A Rose Ever So Beautiful: Emerald's Story
by Kirei Arekkusu
Summary: Emerald, the chosen one from Gaea, has appeared in a faraway land for a quest. She never expected that faraway land was Earth. Will she ever make it back? Will she want to? R&R, please! Chapter 11 now up!
1. Memories of a Feather-Prologue

Disclaimer: I don't own Escaflowne!

Chapter 1: Prologue

Memories of a Feather 

  
Gaea. A planet created by the people of Atlantis, a place much like Earth is a magical and wonderful place. Gaea is in an alternate dimension from Earth. Gaea is almost like Earth's twin. However, although people on Earth cannot see Gaea, people on Gaea see both the Moon and Earth in their nightly expanse. On Gaea, the cursed planet Earth is known by the name of the Mystic Moon. The people in Gaea speak in Gaean and are not aware any other language other than their own.  
It is Green, 27th Moon and Emerald Aoshi-Kaoru Knight is born into this world of enchantment. Her parents were Aki and Hiko; both were Draconians, the descendants of the ancient winged people of Atlantis who created the planet Gaea by using the power of their will and wishes. Aki and Hiko were also the high priest and priestess of Asturia, and were considered as royalty. They worshiped the Sea Dragon, which was the main religion in Asturia. 

Her parents were kind, they were always smiling and they wouldn't leave Emerald's room until she was tucked into her little bed and was fast asleep. Emerald grew up knowing all of the royalty in Gaea from King Goau of Fanelia to Queen Marlene of Asturia. Hiko and Aki traveled the planet, healing the sick, and casting many spells. Aki would teach her daughter healing spells and many different kinds of magic, and Hiko would train Emerald in the martial arts, and also to use swords, staffs, and other weapons. Afterwards Hiko would tell her stories about the Mystic Moon.  
"It's a cursed place, my child," he'd say, "Beasts and demons live on the Mystic Moon is what I hear. But I don't really know for sure. No one has ever been there. But if someone has, I'm sure they won't ever find their way back to Gaea."  
When Hiko said this, Emerald looked at the sky and stared at the Earth and Moon and wondered what it was really like. She had often imagined that they're were horrible demons lurking around every corner of the planet and that there was no one to protect anyone. She was scared to death about the Mystic Moon.

She loved her father and mother very much, not once was she ever mad at them. Sometimes Emerald helped her mother practice spells and she'd joined her in prayers. They trained her so that one day she could take over when they couldn't anymore. One day Aki told Emerald very important...

~*~*~*~

"You see, Emerald, you are our only child because we were destined to have only you. For you are the one the spirits chose. They chose you when Gaea itself was created," she said. 

"I was...chosen?" 

Aki nodded. 

"Yes, you see, when the priest and priestess of Asturia bring a female Draconian baby into this world, the child is destined to become the Gaea no Miko. Your father and I were chosen to be the priest and priestess of Asturia only so we could bring you into this world so you could be the Gaea no Miko."

Emerald was quite surprised that the spirits of Gaea chose her to be the priestess of the whole planet. She was speechless. Aki opened her angelic wings and smiled softly down at her daughter. Tons of feathers came off her wings and started floating in the air. Aki caught one closed her eyes for a second and then looked at Emerald again.

"Emerald, you don't just become the Gaea no Miko, you must journey to a far away place and prove to the spirits of Gaea you really are the one. Unfortunately, your father and I will not be able to come with you on your quest, but you will have the aid of the sprits of Gaea," Aki walked up to her daughter, opened her hand and placed a feather in Emerald's palm, "But don't you worry my little one, we will always be with you. And you don't have to worry about any quest for now."

Emerald smiled at her mother and gave her a hug.

"Any other things I'm 'destined' to have or be, okaasan?" Emerald giggled.

"Actually yes. There is something else that the fates chose for you."

Emerald blinked, "What is it, mother?"

"They chose the one you will be with forever. You are destined to meet a man that you will stay with forever. A man you will stay by his side no matter what. This will only happen when you are on your journey," Aki walked to the end of the room, picked up a large book and brought it back to Emerald, "This book, is older than you or me, it's older than time itself. This is the book the spirits made when they completed Gaea. It says right here that you will be the Gaea no Miko and that you will be with a strong, compassionate man."

"Wow...so you're telling me I'm going to fall in love and spend an eternity with a man I was destined to meet? And I'll be the Gaea no Miko?"

"Yes, Emerald. This won't happen for a while so just relax and enjoy being a child, my little jewel."

"Okay, mother!" She beamed, while she stuffed the feather into her dress pocket and ran off to play in the garden next to the shrine of the Sea Dragon. 

She remembered this entirely well, and she will for years to come...


	2. Severance, Then...

Disclaimer: I don't own Escaflowne! You know the drill.

Chapter Two:  
Severance, Then…

It is ten years later and Emerald is now sixteen. She's still has cheerful as ever, and she had learned knowledge of magic and swordsmanship way beyond her years. She had kept the conversation between her mother and herself in the back of her mind, and she really didn't think much about it. Well, that is, until that fateful day.   
  
On the day of Red, 8th Moon, Emerald was in the country of Fried to visit one of her best friends, Millerna Sara Aston, the Princess of Asturia. She spent a few days there at the castle and when she returned to her home, she found that no one was there. She wandered around the castle calling for them. Then she walked through the castle garden and stepped into the corridor leading to her parent's bedroom.  
  
There was an eerie, unsettling calm as she walked down the corridor, searching for her mother and father. She walked to her parent's bedroom chamber and knocked on the giant carved wooden doors.  
  
"Okaasan? Ottosan? Are you there?" She called out, but there was no answer.  
  
Emerald pushed open the chamber doors but to no avail. Her mother and father were nowhere to be found. She sighed, and started to look somewhere else when and glanced down on the ground and saw a feather. She bent down to pick it up and just as she did she appeared in a white room, which seemed to stretch for eternity. Emerald stood up and clutched the feather in her hand.  
  
"Where am I?" she thought and looked around at the room with no end.   
  
"Emerald Aoshi-Kaoru Knight," A familiar but yet unfamiliar voice said, "Are you to whom the fates chose?"  
  
"Father? Father! Where are you! I can hear you, but I can't see you. Where's mother?"  
  
"Emerald Aoshi-Kaoru Knight," he said, "Are you to whom the fates chose?"  
  
"Father, of course I am, I guess, mother said I was so I suppose I am. But where-"  
  
"Emerald, it is time for your journey. May Gaea's spirits enter you with care."  
  
Emerald still had no idea what was happening, "What are you talking about?"  
  
Before she had enough time to answer ten spirits appeared before her. Emerald's eyes widened in doubt for what she saw could not be happening. She knew exactly who the spirits were; Hiko had read her the ancient texts and showed her drawings of the ten spirits. Then she realized that it was time, and though stunned, she was still prepared for becoming the Gaea no Miko. She looked at the spirits and started to name them.  
  
"Mihoshi the spirit of wood, Kaoru the wing goddess of all Gaea, Kaho the spirit of youth, Seishiru the spirit of darkness, Aoshi the spirit of nature, Ren the spirit of light, Maiko the spirit of love, Natsumi the spirit of silence, Yae the spirit of dreams, and Takuya the spirit of power I presume."  
  
"Correct, Emerald Knight. The fates have waited long enough. It's time you started your journey," They all replied in unison, their faces showed no emotion and she couldn't tell what they planned to do from looking at the spirits.  
  
Emerald looked at them and gave a puzzled face, "I assumed it was. But my mother told me ten years ago you were going to help me...how are you planning to do that?"  
  
"By becoming one with you, Emerald." They replied and before she had time to react they flew at an enormous speed to her. Emerald screamed as the ten Gaean spirits became one with her, surprisingly when they entered her it didn't harm her. Emerald gasped and dropped to her knees. It was too much for her. First her parents are gone now ten spirits are using her body as their little home. She breathed heavily and tried to think this all through. Although she tried, she couldn't think at all, she was in a state of shock. She stared at the floor for a few minutes and tried to calm herself down. She closed her eyes and let out a deep sigh, she reopened them again, and she found herself back in front of her parent's chamber doors, holding the feather she had picked up earlier.  
  
"Was it all a dream?" She thought as she stood up and dusted herself off, "No, it wasn't. I feel different, but why did I come back here? Oh well, I guess I should look for mother and father to tell them what happened."  
  
She stepped out of the corridor and walked back through the garden. She walked more slowly this time, thinking on where she should begin her journey. Emerald thought maybe she should take an airship to the Zaibach empire and start from there. Even though the country was dark and mysterious, she thought she should go to the country that challenged her most. Emerald walked in between the two rows of cherry blossom trees watching the blossoms fall to the ground. Her eyes were glazed over with a look of uncertainty and sadness. She stopped in mid-walk and stared at the figure that unexpectedly appeared before her.   
  
It was a man, no, not a man, but a boy about Emerald's age. He was very handsome, and tall. He had broad shoulders, and was very muscular, and he had the most beautiful eyes. His eyes where black, and had a magical glint in them. His medium-length hair was the color of auburn and it moved softly in the breeze. His lips were curled into a slight smirk. He wore strange clothing, the likes of which she had never seen before. The boy grasped the hilt of a long broad sword, and he stood at silent attention and looked at Emerald.  
  
"Who...who are you?" Emerald inquired. Since her day was going the way it was, she wasn't surprised if the boy was an assassin.   
  
The boy's expression remained the same. Emerald blinked, and which in that very short amount of time he was gone. Disappeared. She soon realized what the boy really was.  
  
"A vision," she thought, "It was a vision. I'm sure it was. Could it have been...the one?"  
  
At that moment, a calm, soothing voice filled the miniature forest of cherry blossoms.   
  
"We want you to know we love you very much, little jewel," It was Aki, "We will be forever proud of you no matter what happens, Emerald Knight."  
  
Emerald looked around frantically for Aki but she couldn't see her anywhere.  
  
"Mother? Where are you? Where's father? Are you all right? Mother! Father! Answer me!"  
  
There was no reply. Emerald dropped to her knees and brought her now shaking hands to her face. She started to cry and scream out her parents' names and for them to come back, but still there was my response.  
  
She stopped crying when she heard something like an explosion overhead. Her eyes fluttered open as she suddenly was bathed in a white pillar of light. The light blinded her and she shielded her eyed with her arms. Then, Emerald suddenly felt herself being lifted up.   
  
"What's going on?" she yelled in a panic-stricken tone. She struggled to get herself to the ground, but the light was lifting her up. Emerald suddenly felt very weak and light-headed from being up so high in the sky. She thought she saw her parents standing at the blossom-covered ground. She reached out to the figments of her imagination before she fainted and was carried off into the heavens.

(A/N: R&R? Thanks.)


	3. The Day the Angel Flew

Disclaimer: No own Escaflowne!!!!!!!!

Chapter Three:

The Day the Angel Flew

  
  
It was morning when Emerald woke up. She kept her eyes closed but she was fully awake. Emerald ached all over and her head pounded. She winced in pain then stopped suddenly as she heard some leaves crack right next to her. She slowly opened her eyes and saw a slightly blurred outline of a person in the strangest clothes.  
  
"Ahh! A demon from the demon world!" She shrieked then covered her mouth with her hands. She was talking in a bizarre language! Emerald wasn't speaking in her native tongue anymore, but that was the least of her problems.  
  
"A demon? I'm no demon!" The outline said.  
  
Emerald's eyes finally focused on the figure. It was a small girl around six years old. She had blonde hair that was rather long. But she wore and oddest clothes. It was a dress that Emerald could point out, but it had weird designs printed in it. They looked like happy rabbits. She girl looked at her with curiously and confusion.   
  
Emerald quickly gathered herself and stood up. 'That's strange,' she thought, 'Why do I feel shorter?' She looked at her hands and found them to be short and stubby. She let out a little yelp when she heard Kaoru's voice in her head.  
  
"The fates have changed your age, hair, native tongue, and your name. Now your quest begins young Emerald. You are six years old, so you have enough time to complete your long journey. You will soon discover some familiar things on your quest. The fates changed your name to Emerald Rose. Nothing more. Welcome to the Mystic Moon, Emerald."  
  
Emerald sighed. Just great! She appeared in the most cursed of all planets. Emerald looked around and wondered where she appeared. She must have landed in a meadow, since there were lots of flowers and tall grass. She remembered about the girl and turned her head to her.  
  
"Forgive me for calling you a demon. I merely saw a blurred figure and I just assumed the worse. Let me introduce myself. I'm Emerald...uh...Rose. And you are...?"  
  
The girl smiled sweetly.  
  
"I'm Anna! Wow, you sure do speak good for a girl my age! And what a pretty name! I saw you drop out of the sky last night from my house! I thought I was just seeing stuff but then I saw you here and wow! Are you an angel? When you fell from the sky you had wings and everything!" Anna stopped and took a good look at Emerald, "Gosh, for an angel you sure do where funny looking clothes."   
  
"Angel?" Emerald asked then figured out she must have tried to fly away with her Draconian wings and when she landed they folded back up.

 _'Funny clothes?'_  Emerald thought, _'She's the one with the funny clothes.'_

She looked and Anna and saw her bright eyes and she didn't want to give her hopes up. And besides, would she had believed her if she said she was from another planet and was something called a Draconian?  
  
"Well of course I'm an angel, Anna!" she beamed, "But it's a secret so you can't tell anyone, alright?"  
  
"Sure! I won't tell anyone! Not even my parents!"  
  
Emerald blinked.  
  
"Your parents? They didn't see me did they?" Emerald got a worried look on her face and shifted her eyes from side to side trying to spot Anna's parents that must be hiding nearby watching. It was bad enough that Anna had to see her fall from the sky, but she wouldn't be able to explain it when lots of people knew. And anyway, who would believe her story?  
  
Anna saw her worry and reassured her parents didn't see her. Emerald smiled with relief and gave Anna a hug. They played out in the meadow until darkness took over. Anna looked in the sky then at Emerald.  
  
"It's getting late!  I have to go. My parents are probably wondering where I am. But what about you? I guess you don't have a place to stay! You can stay with me, but on one condition!"  
  
"What is it?" Emerald asked.  
  
Anna kicked the dirt and placed her hands behind her back. "Well, I was wondering if you could maybe...fly around. Please! I won't ask you ever again!"  
  
Emerald giggled. "I guess it would be okay! Just this once." 

Emerald closed her eyes and concentrated. Anna saw a small outline of wings glowing from Emerald's back. The outline grew larger until it the glowing turned into angelic wings. Emerald had a large wingspan; her wings were as big as her. Feathers floated gracefully in the air as Emerald opened her eyes. Anna was in absolute awe as she gazed at Emerald's wings. Emerald smiled at Anna.  
  
"You really are an angel, Emerald!" Anna gasped as Emerald took into the air circling around her. She flew up high, but staying close to the ground so others wouldn't see her. After a few minutes, Emerald landed next to Anna. She closed her eyes again and her wings began to glow and fold up. Her wings disappeared while hundreds of her feathers flew through the air. Anna was speechless as they walked back to her home.

(A/N: R&R, R&R, R&R!!!! Er…'kay…)


	4. A World of Intrigue

Chapter Four:

A World of Intrigue

Anna's house was beautiful. The architecture was Victorian and it stood on a large hill surrounded by flowers. It was two stories high and was painted a light azure color. Emerald had never seen a house like that before. She was used to the Roman-like architecture on Gaea and when she saw the house, she was completely amazed. Anna and Emerald walked up to the house's porch and stopped at the old wooden door. Emerald was looking very nervous, as Anna was about to open the door.

Anna noticed her anxiety.

"Don't worry! My parents are really nice people! I'm positive they'll just love you and let you stay with us!"

Emerald smiled slightly as Anna opened the door to the house and walked in. Emerald followed hesitantly, and unconsciously fixed her hair and smoothed out her Gaean dress. Anna walked to the living room where a well-built man in his late 20s was sitting on the couch watching television. Everything was so strange in this house! When she looked at the television, Emerald gasped as she saw people move around inside the screen.

"Oh my gods! THERE ARE PEOPLE IN THAT BLACK GLASS BOX!!!!" Emerald screeched.

Both Anna and the man jumped with surprise and looked at Emerald bewildered.

"Gosh, Emerald! Could you be any louder? I didn't even have a chance to say anything to me dad," Anna said and turned to her father, "Oh! Hi, daddy! This is my friend Emerald! But everyone calls her...uh...Emie!"

Emerald blinked and whispered to Anna.

"They do?"

Anna nodded and turned to her father who by now had stood up and was making his way to the two girls. Emerald looked up and got a good look at the man. He was a tall, and was pleasant looking. His hair was a dark brown color, his eyes were green, and they had a gleam of kindness. He wore a business suit, his necktie was undone, and he had a few buttons undone, obviously getting back from his job. Emerald tilted her head in confusion, since he had even weirder clothes than Anna.

"It's nice to meet you, Emie. I'm Suboshi Nakamura, Anna's father," He said and looked Emerald over, "Hmm, I haven't seen you around, did you just move here? I've never seen clothes like yours before."

Emerald opened her mouth to speak, but was quickly interrupted by Anna.

"Emie's from...um...up north," Anna's expression suddenly changed to a more serious one as she continued, "She came here all by herself, and her parents left her all alone! She has no family and no place to stay, Daddy. Can she stay with us? Please!"

Emerald gave Anna an annoyed little look. She didn't want to be known as an orphan or some poor wanderer. Suboshi on the other hand gave Anna and Emerald a concerned look. He excused himself for a minute and walked to the kitchen.

"My parents left me all by myself, huh?" Emerald asked with her arms crossed.

Anna laughed nervously.

"It was the best I could think of! Besides, my daddy went to go talk to my mommy and that always means a yes. While we wait, how about I show you around? I'm guessing from your reaction to the TV you've never seen one before."

Anna explained and showed Emerald everything in the house she didn't know [Which was practically everything]. Emerald understood vaguely and absently nodded at what Anna said. After a few minutes, Suboshi came back into the room along with a woman. The woman was very beautiful. She had blonde hair like Anna that came down to just past her shoulders that was braided back. She was very slender and she wore an apron and probably was cooking before Suboshi told her about Emerald. Her blue eyes were lively but also showed concern. Suboshi broke the silence.

"Emie, this is Hikari my wife."

Emerald bowed respectively, and Hikari smiled softly.

"Nice to meet to, Emie. Suboshi and I were discussing your problem and we think it might be a good idea if you stayed with us for a while. You know, just until we can figure out what to do. You can stay in Anna's room with her. She has an extra bed so there won't be a problem."  
Emerald was overjoyed. She ran to Hikari and Suboshi and gave each one a hug. Her eyed filled with tears of happiness. She was so glad she had something somewhat like a family.

"Oh thank you so much! I'll help you around the house! I'll clean and cook and anything you want me to do!"

"It's no problem," Hikari said and noticed Emerald's odd-looking clothes, "How about tomorrow we go shopping and get you some clothes?"

~*~*~*~

"And what to you call this?" Emerald asked after they all had finished shopping and were sitting down outside in a little café. 

"It's called pizza, Emie! It's really good you should try it," Hikari answered, "Wow, Emie! I've never heard just one person ask so many questions. How far north are you from?"

Emerald was stuffing her face with pizza and didn't hear Hikari's question. Emerald was amazed that they didn't have this kind of food in Gaea!

Anna answered her mother's question.

"She didn't get out much, mommy! You know how it is with her parents."

Hikari nodded and watch Emerald eat the pizza. Emerald was wearing a red sundress that Anna let her borrow. She also wore some red dress shoes and a red hat. All of which were Anna's. After today though, Emerald didn't have to worry about borrowing. Hikari bought Emerald a whole new wardrobe. Even though Emerald missed her old Gaean clothes, she thought her new ones were so cute!

 Emerald soon got full of pizza and she looked around and watched the people go by. She still had no idea where she was. Everything was almost scary to her. There were smoky machines zooming by that Anna called "cars" and she didn't spot a single beast man or a Guymelef. She wondered where they were or if they even had any. She was so confused because nothing on this made any sense. Emerald wondered what village she was in.

"Um...so where are we anyway? What village is this?" Emerald asked.

Anna looked at her funny.

"Village? This is a city! We're in Furenchi Kisu, F.K. for short! How did you get village?"

Emerald shrugged and smiled happily.

~*~*~*~  
Emerald has been staying at the Nakamura's for over two years now. She's been going to school and has gotten used to almost everything here. She still missed everything about Gaea. Most of all she missed her parents. She hoped that they were alive and okay. Emerald had gotten her own room now. Suboshi had moved his study so Emerald could have a room to herself. It was as if she had been in their family for years. And yet, it wasn't. 

Emerald sighed and stared out her window. She longed to be back home. She hadn't really started her quest yet. She didn't know where to begin or even what to do and Gaea's spirits hadn't done much to help her. They haven't even talked to her. It was as if they weren't even inside her. Emerald didn't care really. She was homesick for her old ways and her old clothes. She gazed at the stars and the heavens wishing she were sitting in the Sea Dragon shrine with her mother and father healing the sick or practicing spells.

 Something high in the ski caught her eye. It was something bright white and was flickering revealing the hidden clouds. It wasn't lightning it was more magical. The white light poured down and shot the ground. It was the same light that blanketed her and carried her off to Earth! Emerald quickly opened her window and jumped out and started running. She hastily unfolded her wings and flew to the now fading light. The light had not diminished but there was still little sparks of light. Soon her eyes adjusted to the darkness as she searched for anything. Emerald was just about to give up when she tripped over something large.

"Ouch!" She winced and turned around and looked at the object. It was a large trunk and quite heavy since it didn't tip over when Emerald fell over it. Emerald stood up and walked to the trunk. She gasped as she made out what the markings were.

"It...it's from Gaea! Sweet Sea Dragon! It can't be! But it is..."

Emerald took the handle at the side of the trunk and started to drag it. She was quite aware this would take a long while until she could get it back to the house and then to her room, but she didn't care. Emerald wanted to know what was in the trunk.

After an hour and a half Emerald had gotten the large trunk into her. Luckily no one saw her and she did a good job at not making a sound. She turned on her bedside lamp and turned to the trunk and stared at it for a while. She kneeled down in front of the trunk and examined the intricate designs carved into it. At once Emerald could tell what it was.

 "It's definitely Gaean. It's from the time of the birth of Gaea and I'm almost positive it came from Asturia...probably Fried. Amazing! I can't believe it's a trunk from times of old, and it's from Asturia," she mumbled excitedly to herself.

She unlatched the trunk and lifted the top. Her eyes widened and her mouth dropped in disbelief as she opened the trunk all the way. Inside it was all the things Emerald held dear. There was the emerald sword given to her by the king of Asturia after her parents heals his advisor. She unsheathed the sword and looked at it for a moment and then put it back. She also saw the dagger the young prince of Fanelia gave to her after she beat him at mortal combat. She picked both the sword and the dagger out of the trunk and put it to the side. She slowly picked up a dress that belonged to her mother. Emerald's eyes filled with tears as she clutched the dress and hugged it to her body. It still smelled of her perfume. She silently sobbed as she put the dress next to her the other things. Next, she pulled out a staff that was to be given to her on her 17th birthday by her father. The staff was encrusted with emeralds and rubies with designs surrounding jewels. The staff was about half the size of her and was molded out of pure gold. The top of the staff curved into almost a heart like shape and in the middle of the heart was a large emerald. The workmanship of it was excellent and it took years to finish it. She gently ran her fingers around it and placed it in the pile with the rest of her memories. The last thing left inside the trunk was a dusty old book that was extraordinarily heavily and thick. Emerald picked it up, coughing at the dust that had unsettled and now was fly around her room. She cleaned the book off and read the cover. 

"The Ancient Texts of Gaea and Atlantis," She read out loud overjoyed that she could still speak and read Gaean. She opened the book and flipped through the pages without really reading anything. It was too late to start the book anyway she was already tired. She put everything back into the trunk except for Aki's dress and the book, which she put into her closet. She pushed the trunk against her wall near her bookshelf and closed the latch. Emerald, overcome by slumber walked to her canopy bed, got underneath her blanket and quickly fell asleep…


	5. The Invitation

Chapter Five:

The Invitation

:: Ten Years Later ::

Emerald looked out the window and sighed. Today had been a very long day, not to mention a beautiful one. It was too bad she was stuck in school. She had become bored with the Earth's teachings. They were so very easy for her. And, once again, she was homesick for Gaea. She ignored her teacher's lecture and stared blankly at the window. She silently hummed an Asturian tune as she watched some merry pigeons sit upon a cherry blossom tree. Something suddenly caught her eye. She looked closer at the cherry blossom tree and saw someone sitting on a limb. It was the boy! He was sitting on a large limb watching Emerald with one hand on the tree. Even though he was far away from her, she could still tell he had that sly smirk plastered on his face. His other hand held a long sword, which was out stretched to his side. She gasped and looked around to see if she wasn't the only one who saw him. Everyone besides her was busy doing his or her daily work. Of course she was the only one. She turned back to the window, and much to her surprise, he disappeared.

"Miss Rose, I see you are a little distracted. Have you finished your work?" Her teacher inquired and looked at Emerald.

"Yes, Mr. Sakamoto," Emerald responded uninterestedly. When the teacher nodded and went back to his teaching, she looked back at the window at the tree wondered if she was just seeing things.

~*~*~*~

She stepped out into the sunlight and squinted as she walked down the school's steps. She carried her backpack on one shoulder as she strolled through the campus weary. She barely noticed the blonde-headed girl running and calling after her.

"Hey, Emie! Wait up!" Anna hollered as she sprinted across the schoolyard to the waiting girl.

Like Emerald, Anna was fifteen and they both went to Kawasaki High School. Although the same age, Emerald was a grade level higher than Anna since she had become bored too quickly and she wasn't a bit challenged by her schoolwork. Anna's bright blue eyes gleamed happily when she saw Emerald.

Anna put her hands on her hips and gave a playful glare.

"Geez, Emie-Chan! I've been calling you for like ever! Didn't you hear me?"

Emerald laughed nervously and smiled a little.

"No, I guess I didn't, Anna-Chan. Sorry about that. Need someone to walk with?"

"Well of course I do! And besides," she said smoothly, "You might get famous if you walk home with someone like me!"

Emerald rolled her eyes and hit her playfully.

"Right, Anna-Chan. The only reason I'm walking home with you is because I live with you!"

Anna stuck her tongue out at her and they started to head to their house. They were practically sisters and whenever you saw one, most likely the other wouldn't be far behind. Even after all these years, they have always enjoyed each other's company and Anna still believed that Emerald was an angel from heaven. She's never questioned that Emerald wasn't an angel; she has never even mentioned it after the day they first met.

As they neared the little house, Anna looked at her.

"Emerald…has something been bothering you? You haven't been yourself lately…"

Emerald faked a smile.

"Yeah, I'm fine! I've just been a little bored lately…don't worry!"

Anna smiled brightly and hugged her tight. They walked into the house and were greeted by Mr. and Mrs. Nakamura. 

~*~*~*~

A man darkened by the shadows raised his head up from his throne and glanced at a lanky, yet handsome man.

"Has the letter been received?"

"Yes, master. It is at the Nakamura residence as we speak."

The man in the shadows smirked slightly.

"Excellent. I can sense great power from her. This Emerald will be a great asset to me…"

~*~*~*~

They sat in the living room laughing and talking about their day happily. It was the Nakamura's daily routine. After dinner they would sit down and talk about what happened that day. All of them were very close to one another and even though Emerald wasn't really a Nakamura, she was still in the family. She goes with them to family gathering and parties and everyone accepted her as a part of the family. Emerald was very glad with her family, but still a part of her wished for Aki and Hiko, her real parents. Hikari glanced at the table and then looked at Emerald.

"Oh, Emerald, dear! I almost forgot to give something to you! You got a letter from this place! I think school," Hikari said as she picked up the envelope and handed it to her.

Emerald looked a little perplexed. She wasn't expecting a letter from anyone. She quietly excused herself and walked to her room. When she stepped into her bedroom, she shut the door and sat down on her cushiony bed. The opened the envelope and unfolded the letter.

_Dear Emerald Rose:_

_After careful deliberation and after an extensive search you have been chosen for an elite program. We have noticed your training and we have become aware of your eminence power. This program will help aid you in controlling your power and also to strengthen you both in mind and body. We hope that you will accept our invitation to join our training school._

_Sincerely,_

_Getchin Kuroki_

_Master of the Kuroki Training School for the Elite_

Emerald slowly put down the letter with her mouth half-open in surprise. They had seen her practicing? They know about everything? They were _watching_ her? She couldn't believe it. But in a way she could, she didn't really train in a secret place. She trained in the forest in the same place where she dropped from the sky. Although the area was secluded it wasn't hard to be seen or even heard. Emerald sighed.

"So someone knows…" She closed her eyes and snickered despite of herself and threw her hands in the air, letting the letter toss and turn to the ground. 

"Well it had to happen sooner or later!" she giggled, "I guess I should show the others."

She stood up and walked out her room and headed to the sound of the joyful conversation and laughter. All the talking stopped as Emerald walked into the room. A sense of curiosity filled the room as she sat down on the couch and handed Suboshi the letter. As he read it, Anna looked at her and gave a questioning look. Emerald just smiled and turned to Suboshi.

"Oh…well…this is interesting, Emerald. I myself haven't seen you _train_ or anything but this letter says that you're good, but I don't know…I'm still kind of confused," Suboshi said with an uncertain tone in his voice.

"Don't worry, Suboshi-san. You don't have to do anything. But I've decided that I'm going tomorrow to check it out and then make a decision if I should go or not," Emerald reassured him with a sweet smile.

"Well it's your decision. Want us to come along? We don't mind--"

Emerald shook her head.

"No, it's alright. I'll go by myself, but thanks anyway, although I do need a ride there."

He nodded and soon they went on with their conversation. Anna just kept looking at Emerald wondering if she was really going to go through this. Emerald took a quick look at her while she was talking and then directed her eyes away from her. She was thinking of reasons why Anna would be looking at her like that.

When the lively chatter ended and everyone was in their own rooms, Emerald sneaked out her bedroom window and climbed up to the roof. She tightly hugged her knees close to her chest as she looked up in the dark night sky. Was the letter a sign that she should start to train more often like she did on Gaea? Was this the work of fate? Should she go to the school or not? So many uncertainties and questions ran through her mind. On Gaea this probably wouldn't have happened ever in her life. Of course, she wasn't on Gaea anymore. She was stuck on this godforsaken place and she questioned herself on whether or not she was even going to return. She laid back on the cold roof and closed her eyes.

"So many emotions from just one decision…" she said aloud and opened to eyes and stared at the stars, "…So many emotions that I don't want at all."

She stood up and jumped off the roof, landing on her feet. As she neared her open window, she looked up in the sky again, and then quietly went into the window to her room.

~*~*~*~

Anna stood at the door of Emerald's room and watched the slightly younger one look around for the right outfit. Anna absently twirled her golden locks giggling at her friend's nervousness. For almost an hour she was trying to find the right thing to wear to make an impression to everyone at the training school. She still couldn't find anything and it was almost about time for Emerald to leave.

"How about that one?" Anna pointed to the red t-shirt that said "princess" and a denim pair of flares.

"No, not that one! I have to 'dress to impress' like you said my dear Anna," Emerald replied and threw some clothes in the air trying to find an outfit that was the right one.

Anna laughed.

"Well I'm _trying_ to get you to hurry up! You're going to miss out on a ride! Just choose something and put it on! Gosh, you never can find anything to wear whenever you're doing something important, Emie. You seem to have a niche for it."

"Haha. Just give me a minute!"

Anna shrugged and left the room closing the door behind her. Emerald plowed through her bounty of clothes over and over. After a while, she was just getting frustrated so she closed her eyes, extended her hand with her finger pointed and twirled around. When she started to feel dizzy she stopped, pointed and opened her eyes. 

"Cool! It worked!" she exclaimed and picked up a black leather mini skirt, a white tank top, and her black leather trench coat. It was the perfect outfit! She quickly got herself dressed and slipped on her knee-high black leather boots. She was ganna knock them dead!

"Emerald! I'm leaving!" Hikari yelled from the hallway jingling her car keys. Emerald quickly fixed her hair and ran down to her guardian. She stopped and showed off her outfit.

"How do I look, Hikari-san?" Emerald posed like some runway model and smiled.

Hikari chuckled.

"You look very nice, Emerald. Now let's go I have to take Anna to the mall."

The redhead nodded and walked to the car. She got in the back seat since Anna was in the front like she always is. Anna turned around and nodded at her outfit.

"Took you long enough, Emie!"

Emerald stuck her tongue out at her as they drove off. They talked of when to call each other after everything was done and what they were going to do tonight. It was just mindless chatter so they could avoid that awkward silence. All of the Nakamuras and Emerald hated a place to be quiet; it was just to weird sounding. Soon they reached the Kuroki School. It was a very long drive, but to Emerald, it was worth it. The school was the largest she had ever seen. It was bigger than two football fields and it stood four stories high! When Emerald stepped out of the car, she suddenly felt very, _very_ small. Hikari drove off, leaving her a little reassurance that it probably wasn't that big on the inside.

She stopped at two large bronze gates that read "Kuroki Training School for the Elite". She looked up at the gates as they slowly opened for her. As she walked through the gates leading into the campus she was greeting by a man wearing a kimono. The man was in his early twenties and he was very handsome. His hair was the color of midnight and it hung past his waist. His eyes were jade, and although gentle, they were also very rough and dark.  He smiled kindly as he walked up to the staring girl. 

"Ah, you must be Emerald Rose, correct?"

Emerald nodded, smiling slightly.

"It is a pleasure to finally meet you," He took her hand daintily and lightly kissed her fingers, "I am Getchin Kuroki, the master of the school."

"Nice to meet you," She blushed as he removed his hand from hers.

He smirked and then looked her over. _'I did not expect someone of great power to look like her…this should prove to be quite enjoyable.'_  He motioned for her to follow him as they walked through the campus.

The campus filled with men and boys fighting and training. Some were fighting with swords while others with their bodies. When she stepped onto the training grounds, all the fighting literally stopped. All eyes were on her. Her eyes shifted around and she couldn't find one person not staring at her. She felt her cheeks start to get hot. Getchin looked at her and smirked again.

"Don't worry, most of them won't bite. They just haven't seen a female for a long time," He said nonchalantly.

"You mean…there aren't any women here? So if I were to come here, I'd be the only one?" Emerald gulped and still felt herself being stared at.

Getchin nodded.

"Yes, but you'll fit in if you do. After a while I'm sure they won't notice," He turned to the staring crowd and shouted, "Get back to your training!"

At that, every person started to go back to what they were doing, not laying another eye on her. They walked through the grounds slowly as he explained and showed her his school. The trainers lived in the scattered houses around the compound. The houses were quite large and they housed about 16 students. They went to learn in the largest building, which lay in the center of everything. There they were taught strategic maneuvers for fighting as well as the fundamentals of learning such as chemistry and calculus. It was not only a just training school it was an institution. 

There was also a recreational district where the students could play games, read, or take a walk through the school's vast garden. The grounds where physical training took place were along the front of the school and one part stretched all the way to the back of the complex. She strained her eyes to see all the way to the far end of the building but couldn't see anything. They walked out of the largest building about an hour and a half after they walked back to there they both had met.

"Well, that is about it. Any questions?" Getchin kindly asked, looking at Emerald.

"Just a two. One, how and why did you pick me? And two, how much is tuition?" Emerald asked, watching a group of boys kick and punch a fellow student who was blocking all of their moves with ease. She shook her head and then looked back at him.

"The elders at the school and myself easily sensed your power," he explained casually, "We are not only capable of fighting with our body, we can also do the same with our mind. A lot of students and I at this fine school can sense a person's chi, or life force. For about six years I have sensed a great power and it took me for the longest time to find out that you were that one. That is why you are here now."

"As for tuition," he added, "this school gets enough funds from anonymous donors, and this school is like a formal party because it is invitation only. There is no money needed from any of my learners."

Emerald looked slightly confused about the chi thing, but she didn't think much about it.

"You sensed me, ne? Oh well that's interesting!" she looked at the gates and saw that Hikari was waiting for her. She must have been waiting for a while because she reading a book with her feet propped up on the dashboard and wasn't really was paying attention to the school.

"Well, there's my ride. It was a pleasure meeting you." Emerald said smiling.

Getchin took her hand again and brushed his soft lips against her fingers and then smiled.

"The pleasure is all mine, Miss Rose. Have you made your decision as to whether or not you'll be joining us?"

Emerald blushed.

"Yes I have. I believe I'll accept your invite to join this school," she answered.

Getchin quietly smirked to himself. He told her to pack up her things and come by tomorrow and he would have her quarters ready when she returned. He said to just to bring what she needed like clothes because the rest would be already in her room. She nodded, bowed to him and walked off to the car. Getchin watched her leave and nodded slowly as he thought to himself.

_"Ah yes. This shall prove to be most interesting as well as enjoyable…"_

(A/N: Oh my goodness, the author speaks!!! *-* I know I haven't written any comments on my other chapters but I was lazy and I didn't feel like doing it. I hope you like the story so far! I don't really know if I should make Getchin a good or bad guy, I'm thinking good. Oh yeah! This is my first fan fiction and I'd like to know how you think, people! R & R! Right now! Go…go on! Get! Write me some reviews! ^_^; Heh...yeah…well I'll hurry up with the other chapters! Another thing…I know I should put this in the beginning but…hello! I'm lazy so like yeah. _I do not own Escaflowne! The rich people in their fancy homes own it! I do, however own my own characters! So ha!_ ) 


	6. A New Beginning

Disclaimer: No own Escaflowne! Me own me characters!

Chapter 6

A New Beginning

"I can't believe Master let a _girl_ in here," a dark haired man said while sipping some tea.

"I know," said another man, "It's disgraceful! There's never been a woman in our school! What shame will this one bring us?"

"Maybe she won't be that bad. After all, she _was_ invited by Getchin-sama. She must be good," a kind voice said.

"I doubt it. Whose side are you on anyway?" said the dark haired one.

"…Sorry," replied the kind one.

"I can't wait to see the new girl. I bet she fights terrible," said yet another.

"When does she join?" the kind one piped in.

"Tomorrow. And guess what? One of us is going to have to share a room with that girl."

"Hey now. That just might be fun if you know what I mean," the dark-headed male smirked.

"Oh, grow up."

"Shut up, I'm making sure I don't have her as a roommate. All that girly stuff will sicken me."

"Same here."

"I don't think it will be that bad…" said the kind boy again.

"Whatever…tomorrow we'll just see about that," scoffed the dark haired one.

~*~*~*~

"Why did you have to say yes, Emie?" Anna yelled as Emerald calmly packed her things into suitcases. 

Ever since she stepped into the car to go home and stated her news, Anna hounded her all the way home. Even though she has explained to her that she could visit her anytime and that it was okay to send her letters or even talk on the telephone, Anna just wouldn't let it go.

"I don't care! We're supposed to be together! We're sugar and spice, peanut butter and jelly, ham and cheese! You can't just up and leave me at a moments notice! You just--" Emerald could see tears trying to break through her blue eyes and she walked over to her best friend and hugged her tightly.

"Oh come on now…I'll still be here. I'm just going away for a while! You can visit me anytime and you know it. Well sure it will take a while to get used to me gone, but I'm never going to leave you. Even though I'm not here with you all the time, I'm still with you," Her own tears were breaking though her own eyes, she hugged her dearest friend tighter and laughed despite herself.

"You'll get over me sooner or later."

Anna shook her head and pulled away from the younger one. Her face was wet with tears but she was smiling slightly. She looked at Emerald again then walked out of the room to her own. She looked at the door for a minute, wiped her eye, and went back to packing. If she knew anything about her best friend it was that she has a gift of understanding. Besides, after a while, it would be as if she wasn't even there…

She walked to her closet and opened the door. After rummaging through empty boxes, she pulled out a very long and wide wooden box. A few months after she had discovered her old keepsakes, she had decided to make a case for her most treasured things. Emerald was very skilled in woodwork and carving that she made a case for her staff, sword, and dagger in less than a week. The case had Asturian designs carved into it and she even included the great sea dragon that watched over the country. At the top of the casing she had carved in Gaean: Emerald Aoshi-Kaoru Knight of Asturia. The inside of the case had three red, velvet holdings for each of her weapons. Each place was exactly the right shape and size for the objects. She had worked hard to make sure everything was exactly right.

She picked up the case with ease and placed it among her luggage and double-checked to see that it was locked. It would be very hard to explain why she had a sword with her to the Nakamura's. She had also made sure that her ancient book and her mother's dress was safe so she put both in a box separate from anything. She sat down on the coverless bed and held her head. She has been so tired lately, but it was probably because of the move. Emerald looked around the empty room and sighed. What good times she had spent here! But it was time that she let go of her loved ones and let them get on with their lives. It would be a lot easier without another person to feed or another person to buy clothes for. She smiled.

_"Things will be better."_  She thought.

Her thoughts scattered as she heard a knock on the door and Emerald stood up.

"Come in!" she said and started picking up her bags.

Suboshi stepped in and looked around the room.

"Wow…it's so blank in here! I guess I have my old study back…Are you ready, Emie? Everyone wants to say goodbye to you."

Emerald nodded and picked up some more of her bags.

"No, no! I got that, Emie! You just get downstairs to say your goodbyes!" He went over to her and gave her a hug. He kissed her forehead and twirled her around as if she were seven again.

Emerald giggled and hugged him tight.

"Ah geez, Suby-sama! I'll miss you." 

"I'll miss you too. I know I'm not really your father, but in my eyes, you are my daughter. Now go downstairs," Suboshi said in a slightly downhearted tone.

Emerald kissed his cheek and looked at him again than went out of the room. As soon as she left Suboshi wiped a tear that was forming in his eye and started gathering her things. His little girl was leaving her, and biological father or not, he was going to miss her terribly. Since she first settled in this house, she was attached to him like glue, and even now she was his little princess. Now that she was going, he assumed Anna wouldn't be far behind.

When Emerald reached downstairs, she could already hear Hikari sobbing. Anna was trying to calm her down, but to no avail. Hikari was a crier and everyone knew it. She even cried when Anna got her first 'A' in geometry. And with Emerald leaving, Hikari was bawling like there was no tomorrow. Emerald stopped at the end of the stairs and looked at her guardian. She saw Emerald and opened to arms.

"Oh my Emie! You're leaving me! Soon Anna will leave me and I'll be all alone! Oh! I'll miss you so much!"

Emerald walked up to her and embraced her and Anna tried extremely hard not to laugh at her mother's overreacting. Hikari hugged her incredibly tight that Emerald thought that she would snap in two.

"Hikari-sama, calm down now. It'll be all right you're just going over the top a top a little don't you think?" Emerald said, gasping for air.

"I guess you're right," Hikari said loosen her death-grip on her, "But I'll just miss you so much!"

"Hey I'll miss you too. I'll miss everyone as a matter of fact, but I just have to go there. I'll come to visit, and you can visit me. Alright?"

"Alright." Hikari replied and wiped her eyes with a tissue.

While Suboshi loaded her things into the car, the women talked about nothing in particular. Anna and Emerald tried to talk about anything other than Emerald leaving so Hikari wouldn't start crying again. They were in the middle of talking about why the sky was blue when Suboshi stuck his head through the front door.

"Okay, time to go, Emie."

~*~*~*~

She stepped into the campus with her luggage in each of her hands. She had watched her family drive off, staring at the road for a few minutes. Second thoughts started running throughout her mind, but she won't back out now. Not after what she put her family through. It was early in the afternoon and Emerald wasn't surprised to see that the training grounds were deserted. They were probably in class by now. She walked up to the large building and looked inside. The hallways were empty except for a few men here and there talking. When she opened the door, she was greeted by stares and whispers. However, it was hushed by the voice of Getchin. He gave them a harsh look for talking such nonsense and sent them on their way. He turned to Emerald and strolled up to her, smiling.

"Nice to see you again, Emerald," He said lifting her hand and then gently kissing it, "You're right on time I see."

"I guess I am, Getchin-sama," Emerald replied blushing.

Smirking, Getchin called over some men who went up to them and took Emerald's things. He guided her back out of the building and started to head to the houses. She looked around at everything, trying to memorize every detail so she won't get lost in the future. They stopped in front of a three story Victorian home. The house reminded her of her own where she used to live with the Nakamura's. The men who had taken her bags were already inside and walking up to her room to put down Emerald's belongings. Getchin placed his hand on her shoulder and lead her into the house. The interior was very large and the entryway had a very beautiful glass chandelier. The stairs went straight up to the other rooms. They both walked up the stairs to the second floor. Emerald looked around taking note of everything, and she thought the house was just lovely. Her thoughts were abruptly cut off when she almost ran into Getchin when he had stopped.

"Well, this will be your room, Emerald. You'll be sharing it with…um…let's see," He stopped to think who lived in that room, "Ah yes! Arakawa Takiji is your roommate. He is an brilliant student."

"Takiji, huh? I guess that'll be okay," she responded.

Getchin grinned.

"Excellent! Now don't worry about unpacking, the men will do that. All you really need to do now is to change into your uniform and then go to your first class."

Emerald looked at him somewhat confused.

"Uniforms?" she blinked.

He nodded and handed her a full uniform made especially for her. It was a regular school fuku, skirt, tie, socks, shoes and all. She was slightly relieved that she didn't have to wear the same thing the male students were wearing. They were hideous. She looked around for a place to change into her new clothes.

Getchin looked at her smirking.

"You can change in the bathrooms down the hall. They're the first door on the left."

Emerald bowed in gratitude and walked off in search of the restrooms.

~*~*~*~

She stepped out the bathroom smoothing out her skirt and fixing her hair. The fuku was okay, it wasn't that bad. She certainly got more stares when she came out of the bathroom than when she came in. Getchin himself did most of the staring. Emerald would have felt very uncomfortable if he were much older than she was, but luckily he wasn't. Getchin was just a few years older than she. Emerald was 18, and he was 21. He had told her that the school had been in his family for generations and that it was his time to take over. Even though he wasn't that older than her, she couldn't help but blush at his gawking eyes. Getchin soon snapped out of his trance and quickly cleared his throat.

"Ahem, yes well it suits you. It took the maids a while to make that. You have a lot more in your closet. You're class right now is on the first floor, and it's right where you walk in, down the hall so you can't miss it. After that, it's a recreational period," said Getchin with another smile.

"Oh. Okay," Emerald had a look of question on her face.

"Something the matter?" Getchin asked.

"Well, what exactly _is_ my first class?"

"Enchantment 1A."

Emerald almost laughed.

"You can't be serious! There's a class actually called enchantment?" she said looking at him with doubt.

"Indeed there is, Emerald Rose. I suggest you bring whatever you use to cast your own magic to this class." Getchin answered as he walked out of the room, still smiling.

Emerald blinked a few times as she watched him walk off. She quickly unlocked her large case sitting on her future roommate's bed and took out her staff. She was a bit rusty with her spells and magic, but she was positive she would show them how it was done. She was too busy locking her case to realize the pair of eyes gazing at her from the doorway.

"How little do you recognize how much I know about you and where you came from…Emerald Knight," whispered Getchin as he suddenly disappeared into the air.

Emerald looked up from her staff and glanced around. She could have sworn she had heard her Gaean name being called. She shrugged it off, grabbed her backpack and her staff, and headed downstairs to her class. Visually remembering every detail about the school, she knowingly found herself back at the front of the main building. Emerald pushed open the doors and walked in. She strolled down the hallway looking through door windows at the teachers teaching students. Soon she reached the end of the hall to a black door that read: Enchantment 1A- Room 140. She took a deep breath, placed her almost trembling hands on the doorknob, and opened it. A number of students glanced up from their readings to look intently at the new girl, and she even heard whispers. She walked up to her new teacher who looked up at her from her desk to study her.

"Emerald Rose?" the teacher asked casually.

She nodded and handed him her old school record because Getchin had told her the other day that she should always do that first before anything.

"Alright," said the instructor as he stood up and looked over the paper. He looked at her and then his students.

"Class, we have a new student here today. She's from Kawasaki High School, and she got an invitation from Master Getchin himself to come and join us. Her name's Emerald Rose."

Emerald gave a little wave to the looking peers and laughed nervously. The teacher gave her back her record.

"I'm Mr. Sato, and I hope you enjoy it here. Find a place to sit. I'm sure someone will tell you where we are and let you share a book."

"Thank you, sir," she bowed and walked down an aisle to a vacant desk.

She felt getting stared at while she was settling down in her seat. A blonde headed boy next to her looked at her and smiled.

"Hi!" he whispered, "I'm Takiji. Welcome to the Kuroki School, Emerald-san."

She smiled.

"Thanks you're about the first person who has talked to me. Are you the same Takiji who's my roommate?"

He nodded.

"The very same."

Emerald smiled again more tenderly than before. Soon they were speaking softly about their class and what they do in here. Meanwhile, a group of boys shook their heads at Takiji. Having conversation with the enemy, they thought, was practically treason. Although many of the upperclassmen sensed Emerald's immense power, most of them didn't accept it. After all, she was just a woman. What can a woman do better than a man when it comes to things like this? They would soon pressure her into leaving this school for it being too difficult. Of course, when she'd find out, Emerald would do nothing of the sort. She had worked to hard to get where she is and she wasn't about to have her confidence be brought down by a group of cocky learners. One of the upperclassmen decided that it would be amusing to see her get hit with a piece of paper.

The upperclassmen, a dark-haired boy, lifted up his finger and with that, a wad of paper lifted up into the air with a smirk plastered on his face. Luckily he was behind her so she wouldn't see the paper coming at her. He moved his finger around a few times, letting the wad spin and bounce on nothingness. Then he pointed his finger straight at Emerald, and the piece of paper flew towards her at a very fast speed. Any normal person would have been hit with the paper and been embarrassed for life. Then again, she wasn't like any normal person. Emerald surprisingly turned around in time to stop the piece of paper from hitting her. It just floated in midair a few inches in front of her face. She looked directly at the dark-headed boy and grinned. The paper flew so unbelievably fast and hit him so hard that he fell back in his chair and then to the floor. Laughter erupted from the classroom and the boy turned as red as an apple, looking at Emerald bewildered. Emerald on the other hand, was just smirking just as he was a few seconds ago.

After class Emerald stepped out of her classroom, smiling. She was glad it was her free period. She had grown very tired ever since she first got here. She stepped out of the building and walked around the campus with her hands behind her back. Sometimes she would stop and watch a group of men training. She walked to no place in particular, mostly just going where her feet took her. She stopped in front of two vine-stricken gate doors and a wall covered in vines and flowers. She looked up at the top of the gates and read the name: _Emerald Gardens_. Emerald squealed in delight when she read her name on the door. She knew it was quite the coincidence, but she could not help but think they named the garden after her. She quickly opened the gates and went in.

What she saw made her gape in awe. Every crevice of the garden was covered with flowers and plants, and it stretched on as far as she could see. Songbirds chirped their happy melodies as she strolled down the garden, amazed at its brilliant exquisiteness. She glanced around and found herself to be alone. She sighed happily. Sanctuary. Beautiful sanctuary. She kept on walking until she came upon a forest of cherry blossom trees. Emerald almost fell to her knees in shock.

"…It's just like in the castle garden…like home…" She thought and fought back tears that wanted to escape from her russet eyes. At the end of the forest of blossoms, on a small flowery hill, stood a massive, yet beautiful blossom tree. Its branches sheltered by its attractive flowers. She sat under it and looked at the many trees and plants below. She laid her head back against the tree and slowly closed her eyes. She felt so sleepy…

~*~*~*~

"Hey there!"

Emerald opened her eyes, looked around, and shrieked. She was in the same place she was when she went looking for her parents. She was in the white room that expanded into the abyss of nothing.

"Hey…there's no need to yell now is there, Emerald Knight?" a voice said.

Emerald looked around the find the owner of the cheery voice.

"Emerald Knight? No…no…I'm Emerald Rose. Rose! …Not Knight." Emerald said obviously lying.

"Not the best pretender are we now? No need to pull that act on me, Lady Emerald! I quite know who you are. I have been with you for ages."

"What are you talking about?" Emerald asked confused.

She turned around she jumped in surprise. A cat- girl smiled brightly as her tail swished behind her excitedly. She wore not of anything from Earth. In fact, it was Gaean. Her top was maroon with Asturian designs, and had a high mid-drift and a low neckline. Her skirt was the same and was cut slanted wise, exposing some of her upper thigh. She wore no shoes, but did wear a tribal necklace that dangled on her chest. Her hands were behind her back and she kept grinning at her happily. 

"Aoshi-sama!" Emerald bowed at the spirit, "Forgive me! I did not know it was you."

"There is no need to ask for forgiveness, Lady Emerald," she replied still smiling.

Emerald smiled slightly. She was in the presence of the second powerful spirit. Aoshi was one of the leaders of the Ten Great Spirits of Gaea. She also was the guardian force of nature. Part of Emerald's middle name was named after the grand protector of plants and animals. She was kind of puzzled as to why Aoshi came to her. Aoshi sensed this.

"You're wondering why I've called you?" Aoshi asked, "Well, it's time you knew. The time has come. I have been awoken inside of you and the cycle has started. The Phase of Nature has begun."

Emerald looked at her funny.

"The Phase of Nature?" she asked.

"Yes, Lady Emerald. You shall go through ten phases for each of the ten spirits that dwell inside of you. The phases of life, divine being, youth, darkness, nature, light, silence, thought, power, and finally love," Aoshi said, "You will go through all of these in your lifetime here on Earth, and with each one, you shall have a sign showing which one you are in."

"I see, Aoshi-sama. What is you're sign then?" Emerald inquired.

Aoshi giggled.

"You will find out soon enough, Lady Emerald. I think it is time you woke up. Don't you think so too?"

Emerald nodded as well as Aoshi. As Emerald slowly woke up, she heard someone's voice.

"…My lady? Are you all right? Madam?"

Emerald gradually opened her eyes to the voice. She sat straight up when she saw the man. Was he watching her sleep all this time?

"My apologizes for frightening you, my lady. I just walked by and saw you, thinking you might be hurt."

She looked into the man's cerulean eyes and saw nothing but kindness. He was around his early twenties, most likely exactly twenty. He was tall, but very well built. His hair was blonde and it hung all the way to his knees, and was tied back with a black band. He wore a long black trench coat that moved softly in the breeze. He smiled very sweetly, holding out his hand to help Emerald on her feet.

Emerald took his hand and stood up.

"Thank you very much." She said, practically drooling.

"You are very welcome, my lady. How rude of me! I did not address myself to the exquisite woman," he said still holding her hand, "I am Boah Kinjo, a simple wanderer in this world."

He leisurely lifted up the blushing Emerald's hand and lightly kissed her quivering fingers. He looked up at her, released her hand, and bowed charmingly to her.

"I'm Emerald Rose and I'm new here." She blushed.

"Ah yes, you must be. An Emerald Rose in my emerald garden. I must say, milady, someone as beautiful as yourself should not be in a fighting school such as this," he paused and looked briefly behind her, "I see your tail agrees with me."

Emerald blushed and opened her mouth to say something when she heard those words. A tail? She turned her head around and saw a swishing tail behind her. She gave a little squeak and remembered that Aoshi said she would find out soon enough and that she was going through the Phase of Nature now that Aoshi was awake inside of her.

"Oh! My tail! Yes well, it has a mind of its own! …This is your garden?" she said laughing nervously.

Boah smiled softly.

"Indeed. I'm a learner here myself, but I come and go as I please. They let me make a garden as an extra curricular activity. It thrives on people's love and joy of the garden. I must admit, even though it is open to the other students at this school, no one ever comes in here. So I usually think of this as my refuge from the cruelty the outside world. Enough about me though...Hm?"

Boah gazed at Emerald who was only half paying attention. She looked a little ashamed of her tail. She knew she was already been made fun of, but now she has a tail. She figured she would never hear the end of her from her fellow peers. Boah noticed her embarrassment and shame.

"You are worried about getting teased, are you not? Fear not for many people in this institution has a tail of their own. They are usually distant descendants of the Tsuki Tribe, which was a colony thousands of years ago. The Tsuki people had animal-like tails that showed their power," he stopped and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"It was a indication of great respect. Perhaps you were a descendant to and you just don't know about it yet. In any case, I happen to be very fond of your tail."

Emerald smiled cheerfully, flushing. She knew that she wasn't an ancestor of the tribe, but at least she had a reason for her tail. They talked on for hours about their lives. Although she didn't tell him about the whole coming from another planet thing, Boah could sense something. They were walking around the garden when he took note of this. They stopped in the rose part of the garden and sat down on a granite bench. Boah looked at her again.

"You're not from around here are you? You don't seem like the person to be raised from birth here in Furenchi Kisu."

Emerald looked at a pond in front of her and watched the tadpoles swim and scurry through the clear water.

"You're right, I wasn't born here, but I _am_ from around here…sort of…" she stopped and sniggered, "Even if I told you the whole story, I don't think you'd believe me."

Boah chucked.

"You'd be surprised, milady. I do not think you would believe _me_…if I told you my story," He smiled, "I am not from around here either…"

Emerald's eyes widened at his comment. He wasn't from around here either. Does he mean that he's not from Earth? She shook her head mentally. No, she thought, he's probably just not from around F. K. They just sat there in silence, not saying one word to each other. Both of them just relaxed and enjoyed the scenery. 

While Emerald's eyes were looking around, Boah held out his hands. Emerald turned her head towards his way and looked at him. His hands were gently glowing a white color. He then smiled and moved his hand as if he were holding something. Then, an outline of a rose appeared between his fingers, and in a small flash, he was holding a rose. Small, glittery sparks fell to the ground as Emerald gazed at the rose. It was the color of emerald, and the stem was the color of red. She had never seen anything flower like it.

Boah smirked at Emerald and took her hand. He placed the emerald rose into her palm and closed her hand. Though there were thorns on the rose stem, they did not hurt nor did they cut her skin. She looked at him and smiled. For some reason, it was like they both had known each other for years and years.

"Thank you, Boah-kun. It's beautiful."

"An emerald rose for the Emerald Rose," he said smiling.

He stood up and looked at the sky, which turned from cloudy and blue, to orange and yellow.

"It is getting late, milady, shall I walk you to your dormitory? I wouldn't be a gentleman if I didn't escort a lovely young woman like yourself, now would I?" 

Boah smiled once again and gave Emerald a hand so she could stand up from the bench.

"Thank you, Boah-kun. You're really are a gentleman." Emerald blushed.

"Every man is a gentleman. Most of them just don't know it yet," He winked, "And I just found out before them. Now shall we?"

Emerald nodded and they started out the garden arm in arm with Emerald's tail swishing passionately behind them.

~*~*On Gaea*~*~

"She has found him? Already? But how, Hiko?"

"Fate, my love. At least she is not alone now. He will tell her soon enough, Aki, don't worry."

"I know he will, after all, he was destined to be a Knight Caeli before the gods changed his fate so he could help Emerald. And he will be once his purpose is accomplished. He is a noble one, my dear."

"Indeed. Does he know about her?"

"Not yet, Hiko, not yet."

"Then soon he will know. The old texts say: 'The chosen one will reveal her downy wings, and the gallant knight will make out the reality."

"I see. Oh my little jewel, may the Sea Dragon sanctify you and defend you…"

"Yes, Emerald, be safe, our dearest…"

~*~*~*~

Emerald looked up at the sky and blinked. She could have sworn she heard her name being said…

Whew! Well Chapter 6 is finally done! I liked this chapter, I hope you people like it too. Please R&R! I'd love you hear from you! Really I would!


	7. Discovery and Truth

Chapter Seven:

Discovery and Truth

Emerald closed the door to her room and leaned against it. Something about Boah seemed so familiar, but she couldn't quite put her finger on it. Her thoughts scattered when she looked at her room. She didn't really get a good look at it earlier since she was in a hurry. The room was quite large. The walls were painted a pallid color, and they held few pictures. On either side of the walls were two twin-sized beds, which had navy comforters and navy feather pillows. There were also two separate walk-in closets for the two separate roommates and two different desks and bedside tables. She walked to her side of the room and collapsed on her bed. Her tail rested calmly on her stomach as she quietly hummed a Fanelian song while she looked at the emerald rose.

She wasn't really paying attention when Takiji walked into the room.

"Whoa! Nice tail, Emerald-san!" Takiji exclaimed as he closed the door behind him.

"Huh? Oh yeah, thanks…I think…" she responded noticing no mocking.

Takiji walked up to her bed and looked at the rose. Emerald glanced at him and handed him the flower. The boy was about the same age as her and had long, very light brown hair that stopped just past his shoulders. It looked almost blonde. His eyes were the color of hazel had a bright gleam in them. He was very handsome looking for a fighter. He looked at the rose in amusement.

"I've never seen any rose like this before. Where'd you get it from?" he asked.

"The garden," she replied, only half telling the truth.

"I've never been there before. No one really does go there. I don't know why though," Takiji smiled, "So that's where you've been all this time, eh? Oh! I almost forgot to give you this!" he handed her a piece a paper.

"What is it?" she inquired.

"Your schedule, Emerald-san."

Emerald looked at the piece of paper and read over it.

_Name: Emerald Rose_

_Grade: Twelfth_

_Student Number: 95368_

_Navy Day:_

_1st Period: Supernatural History 4A_

_2nd Period: Potions & Alchemy 4A_

_3rd Period: Healing 2A_

_4th Period: Incantations 4A_

_White Day:_

_5th Period: Summoning 4A_

_6th Period: Swordsmanship & Sparring 1A_

_7th Period: Enchantment 1A_

_8th Period: Recreational_

"What an _odd_ schedule," she stated, putting it on her bedside table.

"I don't think it odd at all, it's perfectly normal," Takiji piped in, looking over her classes, "You have three classes with me! Cool, huh?"

Emerald nodded and lay back down on her bed. It was more comfortable than she had expected it to be. Takiji gave her a smile and placed the rose on her table and sat down on his bed. Emerald closed her eyes and took it all in. The room. Her roommate. The school. Everything. She thought the place would be a total dump, but it turned out to be even better than her little house on the hill. She was about to drift of to sleep when she heard Takiji speaking to her.

"Ready to go to the dining hall, Emerald-san?"

Emerald opened one eye and looked at her brown-haired roommate.

"The dining hall? For what?" she asked stupidly.

"Um…to go and eat dinner. If we don't hurry, the good seats will be taken." Takiji said softly.

Emerald hadn't even noticed that it was time to eat until he had mentioned it. Her stomach began to groan and became very upset. She sat up and ran her fingers through her scarlet hair. She reluctantly stood up and stretched. Emerald wanted to sleep, but her stomach thought differently.

"Fine, fine let's go." She grumbled, clumsily walking out the door followed by the kind Takiji.

They walked out the house together. Some of the other boys shook their heads at the young man when they saw them together. Although some of the students here didn't mind her staying, most of the men detested her and wanted her gone. Nevertheless, some of the boys they passed smiled politely and nodded at Emerald as if she were one of the guys. 

When they reached the dining hall and walked inside, she was quite shocked.  She thought it would be a cafeteria like the ones she ate in at Kawasaki High School. Instead it was a large hall decorated so elegantly, she thought she had stepped into a ballroom. Genuine crystal chandeliers hung from the maroon and gold ceiling. On the matching walls draped silken curtains and intricately designed lanterns that gave a brilliant translucent light. In the middle of the room were five, exceptionally long dining tables, each with maroon and gold candles and centerpieces. The tables were set with the finest china and the most polished silverware Emerald had ever seen. The chairs were oak and had a maroon padding at the bottom. Along the walls stood numerous maids and butlers awaiting orders. Emerald was in complete marvel. She also was thankful that Mrs. Nakamura made her take etiquette lessons with Anna for three whole years. She didn't want to look like a no mannered fool. Many students were already taking seats and quietly chatting about the day they had.

"We should probably find a seat, Emerald-san." Takiji gently said, taking her arm.

They sat down at the last table and in the middle of it. They're backs were facing the elegant wall. A pair of boys across from them stared at Emerald daringly, looking her over. Emerald blinked a few times, confused and the boys smiled and waved. They introduced themselves as Allen and Peter Games, friends of Takiji. They whole-heartily welcomed her to the school. She was relieved that not everyone wished her gone.

Soon all of the tables were filled up, and the hall roared in laughter and conversation. After a few minutes, the room was hushed as Getchin Kuroki entered the room. He walked slowly towards the center of the tables, unremarkably making eye contact with every student sitting down. His jade eyes even made contact with Emerald's, causing a slight smirk on the master's attractive face. He stopped in his tracks and looked around.

"Good evening, minna. I trust you are doing well, and I hope that you are doing well in your studies," he looked around, smiling, "As you know…"

His voice trailed off in Emerald's mind. She was never good at listening. She skimmed around, looking at the different students, teachers, and school staff. Her eyes halted as she was met with some familiar sapphire eyes. Boah looked at her intently from the center table, gave her a kind smile, and turned his attention back to Getchin who had started walking past him.

"…And so, let us eat!" Getchin concluded and sat down at the end of the first table.

At that, the servants started moving and serving. They replaced the empty places, with plates of delectable food. Emerald's stomach stopped its fussing with one taste of their first course. It was just a salad, but it was the best salad she had ever tasted! The second course was even better; a mouth-watering soup even the king of Asturia would die for! The main course was even better: large, succulent turkey. Everything tasted so wonderful to Emerald. Even at the Nakamura's house, the food was never so good. She had just finished her last helping of cheesecake when people slowly started leaving to their dorms. 

Emerald was so full by the time they left the dining hall. Takiji was surprised she could eat as much as she did. They both walked back to their room tired and full. The best thing about the night was that not one person insulted her tail! In fact, she even got a few complements. While heading to his own house in the garden, Boah caught a glance at Emerald and felt a strange power. He knew he was sent here to protect someone, but he didn't quite know whom. Although, Emerald gave off an odd power chi, unlike any of the people he's seen on Earth…

~*~*~*~

Emerald's classes were starting to get easier to her. She has been getting better grades than she ever had. In her incantation class, she had learned to use defense spells and also offensive spells that should be used only in when needed. In her history class, she was one of the few people who already knew some of the ancient civilizations that lived off of the supernatural as well as magic. Emerald once had said something about the Draconian people, but was corrected saying there was no such society. She knew the teacher was wrong though. 

She was better than anyone in her summoning class. When the teacher sarcastically asked her to summon the Earth creature Quintal when she wasn't paying attention, she showed everyone that she could by destroying the classroom because of Quintal's immense size. After that incident, she was given A's just so she wouldn't summon anything gigantic like Quintal again. Her favorite class was her healing class since it was the easiest. Her mother and father had taught her everything about curing the sick and wounded, so she had no trouble at all. She liked healing people, and she even helped out her peers when the teacher was busy.

In her swordsmanship and sparring class, she wasn't exactly the best of everyone. She was good at it because of her father, but she hadn't practiced fighting in ages. This class took some doing. Even so, her sparring and sword-fighting teacher told her she was a natural. Her enchantment class was going excellent; she had enchanted a piece of chalk to write the ABC's on the blackboard. It wasn't much, of course, but the whole event astonished the teacher. Her hardest subject she had by far was her potions and alchemy class. She just couldn't get her potions right. She had made a potion to cure the hiccups, but after the teacher tested it, he started to grow hideous black lumps on along his neck and face. Emerald wasn't on the teacher's good side anymore after that.

She sat by Takiji in her enchantment, summoning, and in her incantation class. They talked cheerfully about what they were going to do during the weekend and over winter break. They were the best of friends, and as the weeks went by, they became inseparable. He was the only one who didn't care if she was a girl or not, and he never did. Takiji and Emerald were walking to their enchantment class when the first start of winter began to show. Emerald felt something cold and light fall on her nose.

"Takiji, did you spit on me?" Emerald asked scrunching up her nose.

"No I did not." Takiji answered, looking up at the sky, "Hey, Emie, I think it's starting to snow!"

Emerald looked up and saw tiny snowflakes gracefully dance their way to the cold floor. Her tail twitched elatedly as she lifted up her gloved hands and watched snowflakes land on them. Takiji pulled her by her tie trying to hurry so they won't be late. Unfortunately for Takiji, when they stepped into the classroom they soon figured out that they were 10 minutes tardy. Mr. Sato turned to them.

"I see that Mr. Arakawa and Miss Rose have decided to join us. Please take a seat and turn to page 78," Mr. Sato said blandly.

A few random snickers came from the class as Takiji and Emerald found their seats at the back of the class. Emerald took out her book called _Learn How to Enchant: Volume Two_ and started to read. She had become very interested in becoming an enchantress. She read about the goddess and enchantress Circe who turned men into swine and she couldn't wait till she was able to do that. No one boy would dare make fun of her. She was humming an old tradition Palas song when Boah walked into the room. He was holding a long broadsword in its sheath and stopped in front of Mr. Sato.

"Excuse me, Sato-sama, but Genro-sama's sword seems to have seen chipped and I was--" he stopped in mid-sentence and listened to the humming. He looked around the room and laid his eyes on Emerald.

"--and I was wondering if Emerald could help in assisting me to fix it. Genro-sama says she needs the practice in sword care," He kept his eyes on Emerald who was had stopped humming and looked rather bewildered.

Mr. Sato excused Emerald and she left the room in a puzzled state. As they walked, Boah said nothing but looked like he was in great thought. After what seemed like half an hour they reached the very back of the school building. He opened the door leading outside and led her to a grassy field a few yards from the school. Emerald had never been to the back before, she noticed the many large compounds and she wondered what they held. Boah had stopped so abruptly that Emerald had walked past him a few feet. She turned around and smiled. Boah, however, did not smile back.

"Emerald…when you said you were not exactly from around F.K., where exactly _are_ you from?" he asked looking at her with a look of seriousness.

Emerald gulped. Had he just said what she thought he said? Her tail fell nervously.

"What are you talking about, Boah?" she replied trying to act naïve.

He walked up to her and frowned.

"I think you do know, milady. I heard you. You droned the song of old; you hummed the song of ancient Palas. Not a soul on this earth would discern or know that melody unless they were from the world that is loved by the heavens and blessed by the sea."

Emerald gasped and fell to her knees in shock. So he knew.

"I…I…" she stammered, unable to think of a defense.

Boah kneeled down in front of Emerald and placed his finger under her chin, lifting her to view.

"Milady, do not fear and tremble. At long last I have found you and now I will protect you to the death. Lady Emerald," He beamed and spoke as if it were their first meeting, "I am Boah Kinjo, future Knight Caeli, son of Eien, born of Asturia, and your protector. The lady Aki and the lord Hiko sent me here to see you safe. It is my duty as a knight to be to honor to the holy family's plea."

Emerald was still in shock. Boah was from Gaea and her parents sent him to Earth? Her head swarmed until he broke her thoughts. He took her hand and helped her up and paused, looking slightly uncomfortable in telling her what he was required to say. 

"Your father and mother requested that you verify that you are of the Knight blood."

"Verify?" Emerald asked and in turn Boah moved his blonde head up and down.

"Your _wings_, milady. If you have them, I mean…Draconian confirmation of some sort…" He explained quickly, his hair flying in front of his attractive face.

Emerald knew talking about the Draconians was a touchy subject since most people on Gaea thought they were demons and killed their own race; but Boah didn't have to say it twice. Emerald turned her back to him and held her hands together over her chest. Her eyes shut tight in thought and focus. Slowly a white outline of large wings appeared on her back. They unfolded and stretched out widely into the chilly winter air. The light faded and in a swarm of feathers, her wings appeared. A light breeze picked up the frolicking feathers past Boah's astonished expression and guided them away. Emerald gradually turned back around, her downy wings swaying as she did so. Boah got on one knee and bowed to her, his head facing the icy ground, his long hair falling to his sides. He did this so quickly Emerald moved back quite stunned.

"I, Boah Kinjo validate Emerald Knight's pure and holy Draconian blood. May the steering winds and the blessed seas aid me in defending the chosen one so she may reach her destiny..." he looked up at her, "…to become Gaea's priestess."

He stood up and gave her a look of loyal oath, his lips curled into a smile.

"I shall not let a soul lay harm upon the chosen one."

Emerald smiled and curtsied in gratitude only to get a bow in return. They walked on, forgetting about the chipped sword. They were unaware of the man watching them from atop of one of the compounds. His stood silent, a sword and sheath held on his side. He had his hands crossed and his handsome face revealed a recognizable smirk.

_"Finally! Things should be less tedious around here now…I haven't been entertained lately…I anticipate things shall be more enjoyable now that Mr. Kinjo has discovered the lovely Emerald's wings…"_ Master Getchin thought as he grinned peculiarly.

He lifted up his hand to his face and looked at a bright, white, angelic feather. He chuckled to himself quietly as he let the feather fly away. He then turned on his heels, took one step, and vanished.

~*~*~*~

It was a month after she had shown Boah her wings. Ever since then he was watching over her constantly. Whenever Takiji wasn't with her, Boah almost always was. He kept a close eye on her and started carrying his sword around. The only time when she was alone was when she was in her bed asleep. Of course, Takiji was in her room as well so she wasn't completely by herself. After a long day of fighting, studying, and setting her teacher's hair on fire (accidentally, mind you), Emerald had fallen into a deep sleep. While she was sleeping she had an apparition of a figure she had not had since she had come to Earth.__

_~*~*Dream*~*~_

_Emerald was standing on top of their castle in Gaea in an Asturian High Priestess dress. She was standing, staring at the sky, watching the Mystic Moon that was hanging above the Asturian Ocean. Her hair wasn't black like it was on Gaea. Instead it was red like she has on Earth. A large brown falcon flew past her and she gazed at it in a trance. She turned around to watch it fly away into the woods behind her home when her eyes laid upon a boy. It was the same boy she had saw right before she disappeared from Gaea. His auburn hair moved in the breeze and we wore a kind smile. His beautiful eyes glittered happily at the sight of her. She started feeling strangely warm inside. Emerald walked up to him, looking into his eyes. His tilted his head slightly and moved closely to her, closing his eyes. He brushed his lips against hers, softly kissing her. Surprisingly, Emerald closed her eyes and welcomed his loving kiss with one in return. Reluctantly they parted, and Emerald, blushing, looked up at him._

_"Who…who are you?" she asked timidly, her voice echoing. _

_He smiled and said two words, but no sound came. Emerald however could make them out._

_"The one." He had replied and looked toward the Mystic moon, still smiling. Then he disappeared into the sky. Emerald watched him with a hand stretched out toward where the stranger had vanished. She put her hand down and found that her eyes were filling with tears, and that she started feeling very cold._

_"The one…?" she thought, touching her lips with trembling fingers, "He's...the one?"_

_~*~*~*~_

Emerald's dream was abruptly disturbed at the sound of Takiji's voice. He had started yelling and shaking her to wake her up. 

"Emie! Emie, wake up!" He finally stopped shaking her and she sat up, "Master Getchin just told me to come and get you! He's personally going to train you! Isn't that wonderful?" he stopped and blinked, "…And why were you saying 'The one', Emie? You were like saying it over and over like you were asking somebody. Weird dream? Oh, never mind about that, Getchin wants to train you! _You!_ So wake up!"

Emerald, being half asleep, nodded but wasn't quite as excited as he was.

"Yeah, weird dream…Wonderful I get to get trained...Okay good night," She yawned and lay back down.

"No, no! Emie he wants you up now so you can practice!" he shook her again.

Emerald groaned and looked out the frosty window. The sun wasn't even out yet. She sat up again and stretched, pushing her dream to the back of her mind for now.

"What time is it?" she moaned tiredly.

"Three in the morning, Emie. Now wake up. He's waiting in the back of the school. I want to go back to sleep and I can't till you _leave_!"

Emerald dragged herself out of bed. '_So there's a three in the morning now...' _She thought groggily while Takiji politely turned around so she could get dressed. Even her tail didn't feel like getting up for this. It just lay there motionless behind her as if dead. She pulled on her school fuku and shoes. She wasn't about to go and get her regular clothes dirty. She brushed her hair, pulling it back into a high ponytail. She slipped on her school jacket; then, yawning, she turned to Takiji.

"Alright. How do I look?" she asked half asleep still.

Takiji turned around and looked her over.

"Drowsy." He answered back.

"Exactly the look I was going for, thanks." She joked and opened the door leading out of her room and slowly made her way out.

As she walked past the hall leading to the stairway, she could hear nothing but silence. She envied the other sleeping souls and walked down the staircase and out the door. As she closed the door behind her she saw that there were still stars in the sky. They sat there above her in their dark blanket asleep themselves. The moon was bright and large and even looked asleep itself. Emerald envied them too as she walked behind her house, following the school's dark outline. After what seemed like forever, she finally reached the memorable field at the back of the giant schoolhouse. Jaded, she walked to where she saw the moonlit Getchin standing a ways from the school in the middle of the field. The frozen grass crunched loudly under her feet. She walked up to him and bowed.

"Good evening…er…morning, Master Getchin. Takiji said you wanted me." Emerald said trying not to yawn as she did so.

Getchin took her hand and lightly placed his warm lips to her fingers. He smiled at her.

"Greetings, Miss Rose," he said never releasing her hand while he talked, "I'm glad Takiji got you to wake up. It's not everyday I myself train other students."

She was fortunate that Getchin didn't notice her full-blown blush under the night sky.

"As am I. Thank you for helping me train this, sir." She said reddening.

Emerald noticed his familiar handsome smirk.

"Let's begin, shall we?" he said and clapped twice.

Emerald heard a zooming noise and looked around. She turned and moved just in time because two figures flew right past her at a fantastic speed, nearly running her over. They turned around, heading back towards her and then landed on either side of Getchin. He kept his smirk on his face as he explained.

"This things here are called droids. They help you train and fight an all that good stuff. They can do just about anything humans can do, but they can be put back together again if they blow up."

Emerald gaped at them. They were a man and a woman models. The woman wore a blood red shirt to small for her own good and a pair of torn denim shorts also too small. The woman didn't seem to mind though. Her golden eyes shown brightly and her tan skin seem strangely human. The man was wearing baggy black pants, but also wore a tight, white muscle shirt. His eyes were shining a violet color. Both had their human-like arms crossed and stared right back at Emerald. She jumped in astonishment when the woman droid started speaking normally.

"Master, you called?"

(A/N: Well that's all for chapter 7! I hope you liked it! Please R&R! I'd like to know what you think…my self-esteem isn't exactly high when it comes to this story! Plus I'd like to know what if I should keep writing or not. So…like yeah! I'm working on chapter 8 and I'll get it down as fast as I can! Oh yeah, don't worry, the next chapter is going to be action-packed!)


	8. The Fight

(A/N: Hey, hey! Well there's chapter eight! Let it be known that I'm not good at writing fighting stuff so bare with me! Well...on with the reading!)

Chapter 8:

The Fight

Emerald was startled to hear the droid talk. In fact, she was startled to even see a droid. Getchin seem comfortable around them, but that was more than you could say about Emerald. She inched away from them as soon as the woman started talking. Getchin turned his head toward the female droid and nodded.

"Yes, I did call you," he motioned to Emerald, "This is Emerald Rose."

He turned back to Emerald and then motioned to the droid.

"Miss Rose, this is Droid Number 163, codename: Laesa."

Laesa nodded in Emerald's direction briefly, and Emerald smiled respectfully. The droid did not take notice of Emerald's gesture; instead it was looked back at Getchin again. He placed his hand on the woman's shoulder and gave her a kind smile. Laesa smiled back and seemed very pleased with herself. Emerald could have sworn though that Laesa shot her a mean glare when she tried smiling at her. Emerald shifted her eyes and noticed that the male was still staring motionless at her. Getchin noticed this and piped in.

"Ah yes, and this is Droid Number 164, codename: Yuko."

Yuko gave a quick smirk and took Emerald's hand and gently kissed it. After he released her hand, he gave her a nod the same as Laesa's. Emerald looked at him closely and he gave her a wink. She blushed and Getchin broke the silence.

"Well then, Emerald. The scientists at our school created these droids and made them as human as can be. They have real skin, real hair, real almost everything! The Kuroki scientists also programmed them to act like humans and feel real human emotions. These two can even feel pain. So let's just say this: Yuko and Laesa are humans, shall we? It's easier if we do."

"Now you must be wondering," he continued, "what do these droids have to do with you? Well these two droids here were made to fight and to train only. I want you to fight them and so I can see what you already know. I already set their fighting skills on Level 5 so it shouldn't be that hard. I want to see if you got what it takes to fight in the annual school competition. Don't worry about hurting them. They come right back together again. Got it?"

Emerald gave a nervous look and gulped.

"Got it, sir."

"Excellent," he responded, "Prepare yourself, Miss Rose."

Emerald moved back a few feet from them and got into a fighting stance, her body bathed in the bright moonlight.

"I'm…ready…" she said shakily.

"Alright then. Yuko, attack!" Getchin shouted.

Yuko moved from Getchin's side and flew towards Emerald extremely fast. Emerald quickly dodged him and grabbed his ankle as he flew by. Yuko turned his head, tried to get out of her grip, and decided to land. They stood face-to-face with each other, not blinking once. Emerald had gone back to her fighting stance while he just stood there. It seemed like forever before Yuko made the first move. His eyes grew wide and he ran toward Emerald, yelling. He jumped up with one leg outstretched toward Emerald. She instinctively crisscrossed her hands over her face and braced herself. The kick hit her hard, but she blocked it before it could really hurt. She thought he would move, but he still stood in the air, leg at her face. She grunted as she forcefully uncrossed her arms, sending the droid flipping to the icy floor.

This time Emerald ran to him, trying to punch him in the face. Unfortunately he had landed on his feet and caught her fist with one hand. She struggled to brake free of his grasp, but nothing was working. She winced in pain as he started crushing it. If she couldn't get out of his grip, her whole hand is going to be broken! Yuko seemed to be having a fabulous time hurting Emerald; he didn't notice that he didn't remember to cover his stomach…

Emerald used her free hand and punched him as hard as she could into his abdomen. As he groaned in pain she quickly replaced her punch with a knee into his belly. He flew up in the air and fell down with a hard thud. Emerald held her hurt hand and flinched. He had hurt it but luckily he hadn't broken it. 

Yuko grimaced and then disappeared. Emerald was quite shocked that he was gone. She looked around, forgetting that you could sense his chi to find him. Yuko quietly reappeared behind the searching Emerald and gave her a hard elbow of his own into her back. She fell face first into the ground. She cried out in pain as she turned around and got back up. She wiped her mouth, which was covered in dirt and blood. She growled almost inhuman like. In a blur she ran to him and before he could brace himself, Emerald stopped in front of him and gave Yuko a hard roundhouse kick to the ground. She moved back, her tail swishing furiously behind her.

He quickly got up and paused. Blood trickled down the side of his mouth. With a smirk he held out one hand and a long sword had appeared. Emerald gasped as he aimed the sword towards her. Her mind swam. '_What was the phrase you say when you want your sword to appear? Why hadn't you paid attention in class? Was it…Oh yeah! Duh, Emerald!'_

She held up her hand to the sky and yelled.

"Appear, Emerald Sword!"

Her ancient Gaean sword appeared in her hand and she hurriedly unsheathed it. She held the sword up vertical wise, parting her now sweating face into two parts. She closed her eyes and waited.

_Always wait till the opponent attacks. Close your eyes, concentrate, feel his power source. Every person has his or her own, Emerald. When he's close enough open your eyes and strike at the source!  _Hiko's voice rang in her head.

Yuko shifted the sword and prepared to slice her in two. _'This is going to be easy! Her eyes aren't even open…' _he thought as he launched himself at her, screaming his battle cry. Emerald thought hard and stared at an image of Yuko running to her in slow motion, even with her eyes closed. Then she saw it. A purple light glowed in Yuko's left shoulder. It brightly shined as he ran to her. His power resided inside his shoulder! 

She heard him come closer, closer, and closer. Everything seemed to go ridiculously slow. Without thinking she moved slightly to the side as his sword scrapped past her arm, barely missing her chest, causing a large cut in her sleeve as well as her arm. Emerald winced again and opened her eyes. She thrust her sword into Yuko's left shoulder and pushed it all the way through until she could see it come out the other end. His eyes widen in horror as Emerald forcefully turned the sword clockwise before she took out from his shoulder. 

Yuko fell to the ground and started twitching. Sparks and wires flew everywhere violently. Emerald breathed heavily and was about to run to his aid when Getchin flew past her. He kneeled down beside Yuko's shoulder, ran his hand across it, and the wound healed instantly. Yuko stood up, clutching his newly healed shoulder. He stared down Emerald with a look of defeat. Emerald gave him an apologetic look and Yuko smiled slightly. He released his shoulder and bowed to the confused girl.

"Well done, Emerald," said Yuko. 

"Um…thank you, Yuko-san. You fight really well yourself." She replied, completely forgetting she was talking to a droid.

Yuko smiled again and turned his head toward Getchin who patted his head like a child.

"Good work, Yuko. Don't worry about your shoulder; it's as good as new. Now go and rest, you've earned it."

Yuko beamed and looked as if he was a six-year-old boy getting praise. He turned and walked up to Emerald. He lightly kissed her cheek and whispered in her ear.

"I look forward to seeing you again. Perhaps we will fight some more. In any case, it's been a pleasure. Till we meet again, Lady Emerald," he murmured and then flew away as fast as he had come, making her hair and uniform fly every which way.

_What was that all about? _She pondered and heard Laesa angrily mumble something under her breath.

Getchin coughed to get their attention.

"Ahem, nice fighting, Miss Rose. Exceptional even. You might not have it as easy with Laesa as you did with Yuko I daresay. He was used for sparring and sword-fighting techniques, whereas Laesa is used for elemental techniques."

"Elemental?" asked Emerald.

"Hai. She specializes in enchantments, spells, basic element fighting moves, and so on. Laesa was made not for hand-to-hand combat, but for magic combat. She took the longest to create, and she just might be the hardest droid to fight. I'm sure you can do it though."

Emerald swallowed hard.

"I guess I could have a go with her…"

Laesa scowled from behind Getchin.

"Master, I'm ready if this…_weakling_ is ready," she sneered.

_Weakling? How dare she!  _Emerald thought bitterly as she made her sword disappear into thin air.

"One second, Laesa, I must ask her something first," he said coolly ignoring Laesa's remark, "Miss Rose, can you fly?"

Emerald suddenly felt very ill at his words.

"Can I what?" she asked dumbly.

"Are you able to fly, Miss Rose?" he repeated a little impatient this time.

Once again, her mind started swimming with questions. Should she use her wings? What would he think of them? Would he ask questions about them? After a while, her questions started to sound absurd. He's been around stranger things than a pair of wings; why would he care about something like that? She calmed down.

"Er…yes I can fly…" she answered.

Getchin wore his trademark smirk on his face.

"Excellent. Let's begin, then. Miss Rose, ready?"

Emerald nodded her readiness and closed her eyes. Slowly but surely her great wings appeared and unfolded before them. A sea of feathers swam merrily in the winter air. Emerald stretched out her wings, made one mighty flap, and was up in the air. She held out both of her hands in front of her and shut her eyes again.

"Appear, Emerald Staff!" she shouted. 

At once her staff appeared in her hands. She twirled it around with her hands and held it up and down in front of her. She looked down at Laesa; building up courage she didn't even know she had.

"I'm ready when you are, _droid_." Emerald scoffed hotly.

Laesa growled and clenched her fists and looked at her master. Getchin raised his hand into the air as he yelled.

"Laesa, attack!"

Laesa shot into the air and stopped a few feet in front of Emerald. She snarled at Emerald, her eyes flickering a crimson red. She put her hands in front of her in a praying position and shut her eyes. Laesa started muttering words that Emerald could not hear. The only words she heard were at the end of Laesa's spell.

"… Lethal Inferno…" she said.

Laesa then pushed her arms out towards Emerald, laughing demonically. A great ball of fire quickly started growing in front of her hands. It was as big as Laesa herself when she screamed and hurled it towards at an unthinkable speed. Emerald gasped and quickly kneeled down onto the air behind her long staff.

"Defender's Shield!" Emerald yelled and shut her eyes painfully tight as she braced herself for the worse. 

The staff shined a bright yellow while a giant bubble surrounded Emerald. The ball of flame made contact with her just as the shield was put up. The fire licked and wrapped around the yellow bubble before it lost strength and faded away. At once the shield disappeared and Emerald stood up, flapping her wings. Laesa grinned evilly. 

"My, my, my. That wasn't half bad. Of course, the little angel can't hide behind her staff forever, now can she?" 

Laesa glanced at Getchin who was obviously pleased with Emerald's move. She snarled like a wild beast, disappeared and reappeared a few inches away from her opponent. She moved towards Emerald ear and spoke in a quiet tone so Getchin wouldn't hear.

"I know all about you, you see," she said in a harsh whisper, "You're living a lie aren't you now? Do you think you can come to this planet and expect no one to notice? Ha! You act all superior, and you put _me _out of the spotlight. Suddenly _you_ get all of Master's attention and you don't even appreciate it."

She moved and glared fiercely at the alarmed redhead. Her anger reaching the boiling point.

"All I hear from Master is Emerald this and Emerald that! You're not so special, you're not even prettier than me. But I'm sure Master thinks so now! Everything was perfect until you came along. You know…I don't like you at all, Emerald Knight. In fact, I hate you. No, I _loathe_ you. I want you to die by my hands!"

Laesa pushed her hand onto Emerald's stomach and before she could react, Laesa fired another Lethal Inferno. Emerald's world started to go dark. Her wings started to fold up and disappear as she plunged to the ground. Laesa caught Emerald by her hand and raised her up to look at her. Laesa ignored Getchin's yells and screams. She slowly began to release her grip and the last thing Emerald heard before she was knocked unconscious was Laesa's cruel voice cackling softly.

"Be careful for now on, Knight, you might get burned."

(A/N: Well that's it! I hope it's good…I'm not good at fight scenes at all! Well, tell me what you think! Lots of secrets revealed in the chapters ahead! Er…I can't think of anything else to right so like yeah…)


	9. Gaean Interlude

(A/N: Disclaimer: I don't own Escaflowne! Not right now anyway…And to High Priestess Cheetos, it is a self-included ficy! ^_^)

Chapter Nine:

Gaean Interlude

Aki suddenly screamed and stood up from her bed worriedly. Her body, drenched in sweat, trembled with horror. She had the most horrible vision of Emerald getting shot at with fire. Aki turned to Hiko who was awake as well, both breathing heavily.

"You saw it too then," Hiko said pulling himself out of bed. 

The sun outside the palace was starting to awaken just beyond the horizon. Hiko walked to the tall, glass window that rose to the high ceiling and opened it. With a long sigh he placed both of his hands on the windowsill.  A few doves flew by and landed in a cherry blossom tree in front of his view. Hiko lowered his head and shut his eyes. Aki got out of bed and headed toward her husband. They both tried to calm down.

"She will be alright won't she, love?" she asked looking over his shoulder at the sun rising.

Hiko kept his eyes shut.

"That I do not know for sure, Aki…"

At this Aki's olive eyes filled with tears. She covered her mouth with her hands, her body still shaking.

"Emerald _has _topull through! …She just _has_ to. If she were to…to…"

Hiko turned and wrapped her arms around his distressed spouse. Together they stood there, motionless. Aki, still weeping, rested her head on Hiko's chest, who was in silent ache. Even with their own vast power, neither expected this about their daughter to ever happen. After what seemed like ages, Hiko took her from his arms and placed his hands on her shoulders.

"Now, Aki, we mustn't be discouraged," he said comforting her, "Emerald will pull through; she's a strong young woman. We cannot let this event distract us from our duty. Come, you must get prepared for the speech for the Gaean Council. You shouldn't keep royalty waiting, you know how they can be."

Aki nodded and embraced her husband. She dried her eyes as Hiko calmly kissed her forehead. Together they got prepared to go in front of the council. Ironically enough, Aki was to talk about the Prophecies of the chosen priestess. The Gaean Council had seemed most interested in Emerald ever since Hiko had announced that the divination had begun for her. Not much time has past in Gaea since she disappeared from it.

When Emerald had left she was sixteen years old and when she was on Earth, she became only six. As soon as she left her world, time itself started speeding up on Earth, and slowing down on Gaea. So during the last twelve years on Earth, only six years have past on Gaea, during which the Gaean War occurred. It was almost over three years ago that the war had ended, and now countries were still rebuilding and starting over. The great leaders of Gaea came together every few months to discuss unity and peace. But after hearing of the girl who appeared on the Mystic Moon, they became eager to take notice of the prophecy of the Gaea no Miko. Gaea's royalty had politely asked Asturia's priest and priestess to enlighten them on about their daughter and about the Mystic Moon; and being courteous and holy people of Gaea, they gladly accepted. Aki even said she would give the talk about her little jewel. 

Hiko stared out the window at nothing in particular. His long brown hair was pulled back neatly and he wore his finest clothes, which he had gotten especially for this meeting. His long sword rested elegantly at his side, and his boots were polished. Hiko's usually pleasant eyes were glazed over with a look of melancholy. He prayed to the great Sea Dragon that he was right about Emerald pulling through, because if he wasn't…

"Hiko, daring?"

Hiko jerked his head up and turned to look at Aki. He was taken aback at how beautiful his wife was. She was wearing the most elegant Egzardian dress with fancy pale pink lace and ribbons. Her raven black hair was put up, but had matching ribbons braided into it. A necklace encrusted in diamonds and other precious stones rested on her chest. She smiled slightly as she watched her husband walk up to her in awe.

"You look heavenly, Aki," he said looking deeply into her sapphire eyes, "Gods, you are beautiful. Even the spirit Mihoshi would be envious."

"Oh, Hiko, you flatter me so," Aki blushed and softly kissed her husband, "Unfortunately we must get down to the meeting. According to the maids, they are starting to quarrel."

Hiko let out a groan of annoyance and rolled his eyes.

"Again? I swear they are like children. I suppose you're right, we should go," he held out an arm for Aki, "Shall we, then?"

Aki smiled and took his arm and they walked out of their room. The hallways were empty except for a few housekeepers going from room to room cleaning. They made their way to the first floor of the large palace where they were greeting by a guard.

"Mornin', my lord, my lady," the guard bowed deeply, "Right this way, they seem to already have started."

He led the way down a large hall lit only by hundreds of torches and a window or two. Soon, they stopped in front of two great wooden doors.

"They're right in there, as you can hear. Good luck."

He bowed once more and walked back to his post. Hiko looked at Aki and gave her an encouraging smile. He took her hand, lightly kissed it, and held it with his own. With strong arms, he opened the door with one hand and they both walked in. The room was loud with yelling and arguing. In the middle of the large room was a long table holding a number of candles. Candle chandeliers gave some light to the room, as did three windows showing the view of the ocean. All around people were out of their chairs, shaking their fists and hollering at the top of their lungs. Hiko soon grew tired of all the bickering and cleared his throat.

"Gentlemen, please! There is a woman present," he said.

The room fell silent at Hiko's powerful voice. The leaders took their seats, and stared at the priest. Hiko lead Aki to the seat at the very head of the table and sat her down. He then took a seat at the left side of her. A boy wearing a red tunic, tan pants, and brown leather gloves and boots broke the quiet.

"Welcome, Lord Hiko," said a young black-haired man, "And welcome, Lady Aki."

"Thank you, Fanelia," Hiko said gently.

"Lord Van! It's so nice to see you again. My have you grown into such a wonderful king! I'm so pleased to see your kingdom look so stunning," Aki exclaimed, simply ecstatic to see him.

"Thanks, I'm pleased as well," Van said, his reddish-brown eyes shining with obvious pride, "You've come to speak of your daughter, correct?"

"I am to speak about my daughter, yes, but mostly I'm to tell of the Prophecy," she beamed.

A plump, stumpy old man slammed his fist on the wood table.

"Well, get on with, will you woman? Enough of the pleasantries!" he bellowed.

Hiko shot him a deadly glare and clenched his fists tightly to keep from bounding across the table.

"No need to be rude, Grava. All in good time." Hiko murmured, "And I'd thank you not to talk to my wife in that way."

King Aston slumped back into his seat and kept quiet. King or not, Hiko could kill him twice before he hit the ground for speaking in such a tone to his spouse. Everyone was quite aware of that. Van chuckled inaudibly as the Asturian king flinched at the priest's words, his wild black hair fell and hid the left side of his face. With his arms crossed, he gave a quick nod for Aki to start. She cleared her throat and began.

"Kings, lords, and royal knights of Gaea, we are gathered here today to speak of the foretelling from old times. As you all know by now, the people of Atlantis, or Draconians, created Gaea with their powers. Along with the creation of Gaea, three fates appeared at the Draconian's calling: Miisu, Attalus, and Esmour. The fates created the world's destiny and oversaw it happen. However, they were warned by the Draconian survivors not to ever interfere with destiny after they created it or they would suffer the consequences. Fearing another annihilation like Atlantis, they followed the caution."

She paused and looked around the room. All eyes were on her.

"Miisu and the others then created a magical book named _The Ancient Texts of Gaea and Atlantis_. With this book, they sealed the fates of Gaea and its inhabitants who dwell in it. They also sealed the destiny of one High Priestess. Knowing what hardship Gaea will go though, they created the outcome of a chosen one to lead the world out of poverty and hardship. It was to be a Draconian female, since the people of Atlantis aided them in their work of destiny and that a priestess must be a feminine being. A woman of full Draconian descent, and a man as well would bring the chosen one into this world. The future priestess would have black hair and hazel eyes of an angel. When awoken at birth, the parents would know all."

Aki continued.

"The priestess was to be named Emerald and be given two middle names; both of the two most powerful spirits of Gaea, Aoshi and Kaoru. She was to be started on her journey at the wake of her 16th birthday. She was to go on a long and treacherous journey to a far away land. She then must prove herself to be worthy of the honor, proving two things: First, she must become one of the people in the faraway land and learn the customs of them. Second, she must seek out and find The One."

Van snapped of a reverie he was having when he heard the last two words.

"The One, you say? What's that?" he asked curiously, getting a smile from Aki.

"I'm glad you asked, Lord Van. You see, the question isn't what, it's who. The One is the man Emerald was fated to be with. _'The chosen one seeks the wingless archangel who will take away all sorrow and agony. When the lovers together, two years will grow heavy and the devoted will be whisked away back to the chosen one's land of birth to start anew'_ is what the texts say. I pray every night that Emerald will find her true love soon…"

Van looked down at the oaken table, wishing he hadn't even mentioned the question. His fingers idly stroked a dark pink pendant attached to his necklace. He sighed quietly to himself as he slid some down his seat. His head swarmed with newly revived feelings.

"Why am I constantly being reminded of _her_…" Van uttered in silence.

"…and that is about it. Are there any questions or comments?"

A very tall, scrawny man raised his hand. Aki recognized him.

"Lord Marius of Zaibach, you have the floor."

The man stood up.

"Thank you, milady. Do you know exactly when and where your daughter will return? How much longer must we wait?"

There was a murmur of agreement as the new emperor of Zaibach concluded his question. After the fall of the Zaibach Empire and the death of its deceitful leader, Lord Dornkirk, the Gaean leaders chose Marius Bacuda as the new head of the fallen country. The old man was a very prestigious and trustworthy noble from the country of Daedalus. Ever since Marius has been the new emperor, the people of Zaibach finally were really happy. The country turned a new leaf and was now a peaceful nation and had no intention to start a war like the last one ever again. 

Aki was at a loss for words. Even she didn't have the slightest clue when she would see her daughter again. She gave Hiko a questioning look and Hiko stood up.

"We cannot be certain on when and where she will return home, Marius," he declared, "Only the fates know for sure and they didn't even state anything about it in the texts. But rest assured that she will take Gaea out of hardship. Emerald will return, just be patient."

Marius nodded and sat down in his seat, while a very young, blonde boy stood up. He sleek hair was cut a little above his ears and he wore beautifully designed clothes. His small, belted sword stood at his side. He looked too youthful to ever be one of the leaders of Gaea.

"Lord Chid, Duke of Freid, you have the floor." Hiko said before sitting himself down and letting Aki continue.

"I thank you, Lord Hiko," the boy smiled as he talked, "Lady Aki, is there anyway for you to communicate with your daughter? Perhaps you could tell her to begin to look for The One to speed things up."

"I'm afraid I cannot do that, young Chid. You see, we are forbidden to converse or even see, Emerald. For her, finding herself and The One is a rite of passage. It is something she must do on her own, though I wish I could help her."

"I see." Chid said and sat down looking quite disappointed.

"Are there any other questions?" Aki asked.

Even with all the leaders inside the room, no one had anything else to add. Aki was relieved to see she didn't have to stay here any longer.

"Well, gentlemen, if there isn't anymore questions, I bid you good day."

She rose up and gave the room a graceful curtsy. Hiko stood next to her and bowed deeply to the men sitting and held out an arm for his wife. She gratefully took it and they strolled out the room. As the doors closed behind them, an eruption of disputes and hollering came from the meeting room. Aki giggled while Hiko smirked and shook his head.

"Just when you think they stopped fighting, they start right back up again," he grumbled.

"Oh, they only didn't fight while you were in there because you intimidate the lot of them." Aki laughed, "And because there's was a lady present."

"Yeah, well, they'll still never learn. They are like children!"

"I know, love, you've already told me, now let's go get our things so we can return to Palas. We both need to visit the shrine and pray for Emerald."

"Indeed, but I think she'll be alright," he said, "The blood of the Atlanteans and the goddess Kaoru runs through her veins."

(A/N: Well that's it for Chapter 9! I just wanted to have a chapter where it has some of Escaflowne's characters in it. I know Marius isn't a character in the show, but I just made him up because I wanted to. There's going to be some more interludes from Gaea as the story progresses. I know I'm not the best at writing stuff, but I still want to know what you think so R & R! I know it's not the best story in the world, but I know it's not the crappiest so like yeah! Well I think you'll like the next chapter! But it's a surprise so you'll have to wait! Well bye!)


	10. Reunions

(A/N: Disclaimer- I do not own Escaflowne! Not yet anyway…)

Chapter 10

Reunions

"Emerald…" a sweet voice spoke softly.

Emerald opened her eyes and looked around. Once again she was in the white room that stretched for an eternity and had no end. She was laying down on absolutely nothing; she was just floating on air.

"Not again…" she groaned hoarsely, "Every time I appear in here, something bad happens."

She remembered the first time she came in here; it was right before she left from her home on Gaea. The second time she was in here she happened to have gotten a tail as part of the Phase of Nature from Aoshi. She tried to sit up but a force kept her where she was. She finally stopped trying to resist and brought her head back down.

"Emerald…" the voice chimed again.

Her annoyance was getting the best of her.

"What?" she shouted, "Stop playing games! Show yourself!"

A woman appeared wearing a long maroon cloak that covered her whole body. Her soft, jade hair swayed well past her shoulders. A pair of extremely large, angelic wings unfolded stately behind her. The woman's brown eyes glittered with cheerfulness. She looked down at Emerald and smiled softly. There was a relieved look upon the woman's stunning face. Emerald's eyes went wide in surprise of seeing the grand goddess of Gaea.

"Kaoru-sama! I'm sorry, if I had known it was you--"

"Oh, come now, Emerald. You do not need to apologize!" she exclaimed pleasantly, "After what you have been through, it is quite understandable for you to be so agitated."

"What are you talking about, Kaoru-sama?"

Kaoru's expression changed instantly.

"You do not remember what happened to you?" she frowned.

"No…"

"Well, you were hit by a fireball made by the droid Laesa at a very close range I might add. When Master Getchin finally got a look at you, you literally had a smoldering hole the size of your head where your stomach and everything else were supposed to be. No one could have survived that."

"So you're saying I'm dead? Oh great!" Emerald said bitterly.

"No, Emerald. Astonishingly, you live to tell the tale."

 "Then what am I doing here if I lived?"

"You are unconscious, Emerald. You have been for the last two months. It is February on Earth right now. I think it is time for you to wake up."

Emerald blinked.

"I missed Christmas? Oh well…at least I'm not dead. It's time to wake up, huh? Second time I've heard that in here. I guess it is time; I shouldn't keep my audience waiting."

She looked at the beaming Kaoru and got a strange feeling.

"Is there something you're not telling me, Kaoru-sama?"

Kaoru smiled one last time to her.

"There is, but all in good time, Emerald. All in good time."

~*~*~*~

"Mom! Dad! I think Emie's waking up! I just saw her hand move!" rang Anna's voice. 

"Anna, that's the seventh time you've said that today!" Hikari said weeping.

"No, mother, I'm serious this time! Come and see for yourself. She's waking up!"

Emerald's hand twitched again as Suboshi and Hikari stepped up to the hospital bed. Both of them gasped and Suboshi ran out of the room to get the doctor. Again, her hand jolted, which brought another gasp from Hikari. Slowly, Emerald started regaining consciousness. A few doctors and nurses rushed in behind of Suboshi and started checking her vitals, almost all of them stunned that she would ever wake up. After what seemed like hours, she groggily opened her eyes.

"Emie! Oh, Emie you're awake!" Hikari cried.

Emerald's eyes shifted slowly to meet Hikari's.

"Ah geez," she gruffly complained, "Stop crying, silly."

 Hikari smiled and laughed. She wiped her eyes, but tears still flowed. Suboshi placed a hand on Emerald's shoulder.

"You gave us a pretty good scare, missy, " he said.

He leaned in on Emerald's bed and whispered.

"I've been having to hear Hikari's crying for two whole months. I think her deafening sobbing might have woken you up!"

Emerald giggled as Suboshi lightly kissed her forehead. Hikari stood up and gave her a painful hug, giving her a kiss on the cheek. After prying her off of Emerald, Anna gave her a hug.

"Man, Emie-chan! It never fails with you. If you missed me so much, you should have called, " she winked, "Welcome back."

"Thanks, minna. Sorry I scared you, " she looked around, "Where am I, exactly?"

"In the hospital wing of your school. I'm glad they have a facility like this so close," said Suboshi.

"Oh, Emie! I've been so worried! I thought you were never going to make it." Hikari bawled.

Emerald sighed and snickered.

"Thanks for having faith, Hikari-san," she said in a sarcastic tone.

A nurse walked in the room and knocked on the door.

"I'm sorry, but visiting hours are over now. You'll have to come by tomorrow," she said.

"Aw! I want to stay longer!" Anna whined.

"Anna! You heard the nurse! It's time to say our goodbyes," said Suboshi.

Everyone took turns hugging Emerald and saying goodbye. Soon, she was all by herself in the large hospital room. Now that she was alone, she placed a hand on her stomach and almost screamed. It was completely healed; there was no hole or anything. How could she have healed so fast if Kaoru herself said she was shocked she made it alive? Emerald didn't even feel any pain or ache. It was as if she didn't get hit at all.

_'Weird…'_ she thought as she moved her hand from her abdomen.

Suddenly everything came rushing back to her. She remembered the whole fight with Laesa and the conversation she had with her right before she was practically blown up. Laesa had known she was from Gaea, and Getchin did too. She remembered how Laesa said she wanted her dead and how she shot a lethal inferno right through her abdomen. A surge of fury ran through Emerald. If she ever saw Laesa again, she would pay for putting her in a hospital bed. Emerald yawned and tried to stay mad, but even after being asleep for months, she was very tired. She turned to her side and drifted off to sleep.

Emerald hadn't slept for very long when she heard a window opening next to her. Her eyes sprang open as she watched a dark figure creep into her room. She was reaching for something to hurt the stranger with when she heard a familiar voice.

"Milady, it is I," said the figure.

"Boah?" she squeaked very amazed that he could get up to a second story window so quietly.

"Hai." He replied.

Emerald turned on the lamp next to her and sat up as Boah pulled up a seat beside her. His handsome face had a deep look of stress as she got a good look at him. His dimly lit body looked very tired. He lifted up Emerald's hand and courteously kissed it then held it with his own. He looked as though he was on the brink of crying.

"My lady, forgive me. I am so sorry, words cannot express my anguish," he muttered sadly.

"What are you sorry for? Did you do something wrong?"

"Indeed I did, Lady Emerald, indeed I did. Look what has happened to you! I was not there to protect you, and look where you are now."

His eyes filled with distressed tears and he gripped Emerald's hand.

"It is my sacred duty to keep you from harm. I gave solemn oath to your parents that I would! I was not there to defend you for a few hours and you get a lethal inferno blasted through you! Please find it in your kind heart to forgive me, milady; but I will understand if you refuse. I am not a good protector, nor will I ever. I will never be a Knight Caeli."

Even with his head lowered, Emerald could make out that he was sobbing. She could feel his hand trembling as his heart filled with disgrace. All pride seemed to have disappeared from him. He moved closer to Emerald and talked shakily. 

"And forgive me for my foolishness. A true man would not shed tears."

Emerald could not help but smile at the young man's words.

"Nonsense, Boah-kun. If anything a real man wouldn't be afraid to cry. There's no harm done either. I'm fine now, and I don't want you worrying about it. You're a great guardian, really you are, and you will be a Knight Caeli."

Boah looked up at her red-eyed. Though he still looked distressed, he managed a grin.

"Thank you…milady…" he murmured.

He lifted her hand to his lips and kissed it once more. He then lowered his head, closed his eyes and smiled.

"I thank you."

~*~*~*~

"I still don't see what I did wrong, Master."

"What are you talking about? You nearly killed one of my students, Laesa!"

"I just did what you told me to do."

"I didn't tell you to kill her, did I?"

"No, but I wasn't _trying_ to kill her."

"That's a lie and you know it, you've been hiding behind that excuse for two whole months."

"I'm not hiding behind anything, Master. Like I said, I was just doing what you told me to do."

"I just told you to make it a good fight. I just wanted to be amused and I wanted to see if she had what it takes. I wanted to see if she lived up to her name, but I didn't even get a chance to see her in action since you chose to try and kill Emerald!"

"But I did as I was told, Master. I amused you and I fought with her. Weren't you entertained?"

"Of course I wasn't! If I had known you were going to shoot her out of the sky, I'd have stopped the fight at once!"

"Sorry, Master. I—"

"I still can't believe that you told her that we knew. I told you about her in confidence that you wouldn't tell anyone!"

"Forgive me, Mast—"

"I know you hate her. You let your own detestation get ahead of yourself and you almost killed a human being. I'm disappointed in you, Laesa. Very disappointed indeed. You may go."

"But, Getchin-sama—"

"Please leave now…"

"H-Hai, Master…but I'm sorry for what I've done to you and _her._"

"Leave."

"As you wish…Getchin-sama…"

_'I didn't mean for it for you to go into a coma, Emerald. I can promise you that, I just wanted to see what you could do... Please forgive me…If I had known…that she would…I'd never would have allowed her…'_

~*~*~*~

Emerald woke up the next morning to find that Boah had left. In his place was an emerald rose that was still glittering from his spell. Emerald took the flower and smiled. She then looked around the bland room. It was so dull and boring, even with the doctors and nurses checking up on her. When the wave of nurses had left her side, Emerald hopped out of bed and opened the window.

It was a glorious day outside. The sun shone brightly in the clear, blue sky while birds flew happily without a care in the world. Down below, she could see a few groups of boys training, having a great time. The weather was perfect for anything, and everyone seemed to be having fun. She envied them all, when suddenly she got an idea.

She locked the room door, and changed her clothes to some of her own that she found in a suitcase. Emerald shut her eyes as she unfolded her saintly wings. Her wings took up most of length of the room, and it started to be quite uncomfortable, but it didn't matter. She would be out of the room soon enough. Right now, Emerald didn't care anymore about hiding her wings. It wasn't really a big deal. Everyone in her school had to fly some way or another and she was positive she wasn't the only one with wings. No one knew who or what Draconians were, anyway. She jumped up on the windowsill, looked down, and hoped that her wings wouldn't fail her.

She was about to fly out when she heard a banging on the door.

"Miss Rose? Are you in there? Miss Rose?"

Emerald laughed and threw her hands in the air as she talked.

"Not anymore, I'm not!"

She took a great leap off the windowsill and bounded out of the room. With arms outstretched she soared a few feet before the length of her wings made it out of the room. Her wings gave a giant flap as she flew away from the hospital wing hearing the doctors shout from the window.

"Miss Rose, get back here! You're not supposed to be out of your bed!"

"Doctor, look at that! She has wings!"

"Don't you think I can see that? Miss Rose! Come back!"

Emerald acted as though she didn't hear a single word from them and she laughed happily as the boys fighting stopped to look at her in amazement. She felt wonderful! Ever since December was confined to that little room, not being able to go outside. Now that Emerald felt the cool, fresh air, she never wanted to go inside again. As she flew over the school's training fields, she spotted Takiji heading back to his dorm by himself. She grinned as she flew down towards him.

"Takiji!!" she yelled as she came closer to him.

Takiji looked around, and seeing no one, kept on walking. He did not even notice the flying girl behind her. She was so close to him now that she could touch his hair.

"You're so stupid, Takiji!" she said as she tugged at a piece of her hair.

He stopped, and with him coming to a quick halt, Emerald collided with Takiji, tackling him to the ground. They rolled a few yards before actually stopping. Emerald lay on top of him with her wings shading both from the sun.

"Emie! You're alright!" he exclaimed, wrapping his arms around her neck in a tight embrace.

"Of course I am, Taki!" she exclaimed.

He opened his mouth to say something when he finally realized her wings. He stared at them in utter marvel, moving his eyes from side to side to look at them.

"Emie…you have wings?" he managed to say.

"No," she rolled her eyes, "these are loaners."

He lifted a hand and touched her right wing.

"They're so beautiful and soft." He said ignoring her comment.

Emerald blushed despite herself at his words. Takiji seemed to be in a trance as he felt the pallid, downy smoothness of her wings. A few feathers did their twirling ballet in the February air, before gliding off to somewhere else. Takiji's hand slowly moved from Emerald's wings to the side of her face. He gently stroked her flushed cheek. His eyes drifted from her wings to her eyes.

"Emerald," he whispered.

His eyes closed slightly. He moved closer to her, stopping inches from her face, his lip coming ever so close to hers. His eyes closed slightly as Emerald blushed crimson red.

"T-Takiji?" she squeaked, "Are you okay?"

Takiji look as if he broke out of her spell. His eyes widened as he realized what he was doing. He got from under Emerald and moved himself away. His face was as red as a tomato and he kept staring at a clump of grass at his feet.

"I'm sorry. I don't know what…er…came over me! Well, I got to go! See you when I see you! I'm glad your back, Emie." He said very quickly and ran off into the dorm.

Emerald sat there watching him run away, her cheeks still red. She absently touched the side of her face. She folded up her wings and they disappeared in a sea of feathers. She was speechless.

_'Um…I don't think I should open my wings when Takiji's around…'_ she thought.

Emerald stood up and dusted herself off, watching the path Takiji went to get away from her. Her hand touched her cheek once more before she snapped out of it and stopped staring at nothing. She then looked to her left and saw Getchin's living quarters. Emerald clenched her fists together and started heading to his home. She sensed Laesa's life force coming from there.

When she got to the front door of Getchin's manor, she didn't even bother to knock. She opened the door and let herself in. A few of his maids jumped in surprise at Emerald and tried to stop her from going any further. However, Emerald was blinded by the rage of what Laesa did to her and she growled at them.

"Do you _really_ want to try me?" she hissed as she brushed off the maids.

She walked up the marble staircase in the middle of the entranceway and headed down a hallway where she stopped in front of a carved, burgundy door. She placed both hands on the door and sensed both Getchin's and Laesa's power. With anger in her heart, she pushed open the door and stepped inside.

A gush of cold air blew past Emerald making her shiver. Although there was a crackling fire blazing in a brick fireplace, Emerald couldn't help but shiver. The room was dim, the windows were draped and little light entered the room. In front of the flames sat a violet chair. Emerald walked up to it and saw Getchin sitting in it, two fingers massaging his temples.

"Come. Sit." he told her and with a wave of his hand, another chair appeared diagonal from him.

Emerald sat down and stared at Getchin. Much to her surprise, her fury seemed to have gone down when she saw him. He looked almost as bad as Boah did when she saw him.

"Feeling better, I see. I hear you left the medical wing a little earlier than expected."

Emerald lowered her head and suppressed a smile. She knew she wasn't supposed to have left the wing, but it was just so boring!

"I felt better," she said.

Getchin made a weak smile.

"Indeed. You look better as well," he shifted in his chair so he was face to face with Emerald, "Look, I didn't mean for that to happen. Laesa just didn't think that's all. I never told her to fight so dirty, and I didn't teach her that either."

Emerald looked past his words and sensed his thoughts without knowing she did so.

"You're sorry about not telling me about what you found out sooner, huh?" she said.

Getchin looked stunned that she knew what he was thinking, but calmed down and realized that he wasn't talking to an ordinary girl.

"That's correct, Miss Rose."

"You can call me Emerald, Getchin-sama."

"Right, Emerald. I do regret that I didn't tell you that I knew about your past. I hope you can excuse that."

"It's not very east to forgive something like this so quickly, Getchin-sama. How did you find out anyway?" she asked inquiringly, not sounding mad at the least.

Getchin sighed deeply and sat up straight, trying to think of how to start. When he thought of what to say, he looked at Emerald and began.

"It was a long while before you arrived on Earth when I discovered Gaea. It was completely on accident when I did. I was bored one night and I was in this very room when I made a little galaxy to past the time. I have an infatuation for astronomy, and I make real looking models of the planets and the stars with a spell I made myself. I often do that when there is nothing else to do; and when I make them, they look quite stunning. Anyway, I was looking at the stars and the planets when I spotted a small world right between the Earth and Mars."

Emerald listened attentively while he spoke and tried her very best not to get distracted. She often gets unfocused when people talk for a long time.

"At first I thought it must have been some mistake, an error I made from the spell. I simply thought it was another image of Earth, so I used another spell to 'zoom in' on the twin Earth. When I got the planet close enough to see cities and people, I found out that it wasn't Earth at all but Gaea. The world was a place wedged in medieval times, and I wondered why it hasn't been seen on Earth."

"I researched and researched, but I could never find out anything about this phantom planet. I was about to give up when a beam of white light surrounded me and I was actually _in_ the planet I was looking at a few seconds before!"

Emerald shot back to reality and almost choked on her own spit at his words.

"You went to Gaea?!" she gasped in shock, "No freaking way!"

"I guarantee you, Emerald. I _freaking _went to Gaea as you so delicately put it."

"Oh…sorry…" Emerald said quietly and calmed herself.

"I suppose it was that I sincerely wanted and wished to know about that planet; I was extremely curious and I guess that's what brought me there. Everywhere I turned, people were talking in this strange language so I didn't get anywhere. I still didn't know where I was."

~*~*Flashback*~*~ 

"Excuse me, sir! Could you tell me where I am exactly?" asked a young Getchin to a raggedy old man.

The old man just looked him over and gave him an odd look. He turned and walked away.

'Not again! That's the tenth person who's looked at me funny,' Getchin thought as he walked wearily down the crowded marketplace in search of an answer.

He stopped in front of a tavern and sat down on a barrel in front of it.

'Just great, I'm stuck in a place I don't even know the name to, and everyone keeps on staring at me,' he thought to himself, 'Probably from the clothes I'm wearing…but I just need to find out where I am. That's all I need to know.'

After getting tired of villagers staring at him, Getchin got up and walked away from the busy street. He walked around the whole city, not knowing where he was going or why he was even walking. He stopped again in front of a large, marble building that held no doors. Getchin walked towards it and went inside. His eyes focused on a large granite statue of a sea dragon. Hundreds of candles surrounded it, and some people were sitting in front of it praying.

"You're in Palas, Asturia in Gaea, stranger," a voice said softly from behind.

Getchin hastily turned around to see a beautiful woman smiling at him.

"You…c-can…can…and you know…what…I…I…" he stuttered.

The woman laughed gently.

"Shh…" she answered and placed a finger over her mouth and disappeared into the air.

~*~*End Flashback*~*~

"Sensing her life force, I raced out to behind the shrine. But as soon as I got there, I was surrounded in the same beam of light and I was back in my study sitting in this very chair. It was the strangest thing, I promise you."

"Yeah, it was strange. That light I mean," she said.

"That wasn't the only strange thing," Getchin remembered.

"Oh?"

Getchin shifted in his chair.

"When I arrived on Earth, a book also appeared with me. It was in the old language I heard on Gaea and didn't understand. But when I read the title, it was as if I had known Gaean all along. I read all of it, and when I finished, the book disappeared. It probably went back to Gaea. And that's how I found out about you."

"Woah!" Emerald exclaimed, "What was the book called?"

"_The Ancient Texts of Gaea and Atlantis_ was what it was called I believe," said Getchin.

"But…that's impossible! Only the priest or priestess of Asturia…could have…" 

~*~*~*~

Takiji sat at the end of his bed, his face buried in his hands.

"Why did I have to go and do that, huh? Geez, she must think I'm some sort of freak or something…"

He was still whining to himself when he heard a knock on the door.

"What is it?" he snapped.

The door opened and Yuko walked in without asking permission. Takiji jumped up from his bed in surprise and confusion.

"Yuko? What are you doing here?" Takiji asked, still surprised to see him.

Yuko just smirked and walked around the dorm room, looking at nothing in particular. He stopped once in a while to touch one of Emerald's things. After what seemed like an eternity he turned to the perplexed boy, with the usual devious smile on his face.

"I heard Emerald left the hospital. Is she here? I would like to see her." He smirked.

"Um…no she's not, as you can see. Don't you have somewhere to be?" Takiji said hotly.

"Nope. I don't have to be anywhere, nor do I want to be anywhere. Well, that's not entirely true. I would much like to be where the gorgeous Emerald is." Yuko responded composedly.

"And why is that, Yuko? Emie's not that special." Takiji said, lying through his teeth.

The droid saw right through him, but acted as though he didn't. He smoothed back his long, black hair, still keeping his smirk.

"Oh, but she is. Emerald is a very unique one, indeed. Very much so. She's the strongest woman I've ever seen. Of course, Laesa is stronger, but she doesn't really count. Emerald's power and strength makes me think of what other things she could do…for me that is…"

"You better not mean what I think you mean, Yuko, or you're a dead robot!" said an outraged Takiji.

"Do you think I meant intercourse?" Yuko laughed gently, "Poor, simple Takiji! Get your mind out of the gutter, will you? Although I have thought about it…"

He chucked, amused that Takiji could get so angry so quickly. He watched Takiji's face turn red as his fists tremble in rage, especially when he said his last remark.

"You wish to kill me, don't you Takiji? I can tell; I can sense emotions, you know," he said heading out the door, "You're blinded by fury, but you are held back by love. So you're not going to kill me just yet."

"I'm not in love! What are you talking about?!"

Yuko stopped and turned his head toward the young boy.

"I think you know what I'm talking about," he walked away and shouted down the hallway, "That was fun, we should do this again sometime!"

~*~*~*~

Emerald leaned against the door of Getchin's study.

_'Okaasan…so it was you. But why?'_ she thought as she lifted herself from the door and walked down the hallway.

"Fate works in mysterious ways I guess…" Emerald said out loud as she walked out of Getchin's manor.

She stopped in mid-walk and one could have sworn her eyes were ablaze with revenge. She growled inhumanly and her tail shook around violently. Emerald now remembered why she even came to Getchin's home. Her body started to glow a deadly blood red. 

"YOU!" 

Laesa whirled around and spotted Emerald. The same vengeful passion soared through her heart as well. Once again, they were face to face. Only this time, Emerald was overcome by a murderous rage. Little did she know but Laesa was feeling the same way.

(A/N: Yay! I'm done with chapter 10! I hope it was good because I tried my best! Well anyway, _please, please, pleeeeaaaasssseee_ R&R for me! I'd like to know what you think!)


	11. Perturbed Feelings

Chapter Eleven:

Perturbed Feelings

"What do you want, Knight? I have no time for you!" said Laesa furiously as she walked away.

Emerald appeared in front of Laesa and stopped her in mid-walk.

"It's Rose," she corrected.

Laesa glowered at her and pushed Emerald out of the way. She headed down the paved path to the main building. Emerald grabbed Laesa's arm and flung her back to her side.

"I do believe we have some unfinished business to attend to, Laesa."

"I'm warning you, Knight…Get away from me…"

"It's _Rose_ and how are _you_ going to warn _me_ to get away from _you_? I think it should be the other way around, don't you think?"

Emerald smiled unkindly while Laesa kept her glare. They stayed like that for a few minutes before Laesa walked away again. And once again Emerald appeared in front of her in a blink of an eye.

"Ugh! That is it, Knight!" Laesa hissed as she pulled out a dagger from her pocket, "Master Getchin told me not to hurt you, but you seem to be asking for it!"

At this Emerald lifted up the side of her skirt and took out an emerald dagger that rested in a sheath on her upper thigh. Then she did the same with the other side of her skirt.

"Even at the hospital I come prepared. Never can have too many weapons I always say," Emerald smirked, not at all sounding like herself.

She brandished the matching daggers, moving them from side to side slowly, smirking as she did it. Laesa gave an uneasy look and growled again.

"Just…stay away from me, Knight! I don't feel like another lecture from Master Getchin."

She then flew off back to Getchin's manor, not taking a second look back. Emerald smiled and her face was bright and cheery. She was obviously proud of herself. She gave her daggers a little kiss each.

"Thank you, ladies. You're always good for a scare," she said as she walked back to her room.

Again, she was stopped in her tracks. However, this time, she wasn't sure she would be able to walk on her own. The boy with the auburn hair and the kind eyes glowed a heavenly white as he stood on the sidewalk. He held a pistol in his right hand while the other sat on his hip. His sword was resting stately in its home opposite of where his hand lay. This time he wore a military uniform, and he looked slightly older. The boy smiled gently, and his eyes glittered with cheerfulness. And unlike before in her daytime visions, he spoke. To Emerald, his voice was like one of an angel. She suddenly felt a warm sensation.

"Look in the right spot," he had said before he started to fade away.

"Wait!" Emerald clamored, "What's that supposed to mean?"

It was too late; the figure had vanished into the now setting sun. Emerald kicked the dirt and sulked.

_'That was creepy,'_ she thought as she treaded into the dormitory, trying to figure out who the boy was.

She didn't even notice that her fellow housemates jumped and literally fell out her way in alarm that she was alive. One even pinched himself, trying to wake up from a dream he obviously must be having right now. Sure, now and then some of the men would get wounded like Emerald did from a competition or a menacing fight; and the majority got healed in a matter of months, even hours. But no one in the Kuroki School thought that a woman, no, a _girl_ would ever live to see tomorrow after a blow like that one. When Emerald started to her whispers, she looked up and found many men with flabbergasted faces gaping at her.

"Er…hi, everyone," Emerald chimed out, "I'm just going to be over…uh…there…"

The rather uncomfortable redhead pointed up towards her room, and disappeared in a whirl of roses, leaving her peers even more wordless. She appeared fairly noisily as she landed on Takiji's bed and on Takiji himself (Emerald never could get phasing right except if it was a short distance). She heard a groan from under her and she quickly rolled off the squashed boy.

"Oops! Gomen, Taki-san!" Emerald giggled and sat up on his bed.

Takiji rubbed his head and stomach and held back the urge to whimper.

"Ugh, it's okay," he muttered trying to think of what he was doing before he was so rudely interrupted, but then he remembered: He was thinking about Emerald. He quickly moved away from her.

"You all right?" she asked.

"Yeah, fine, just a little freaked out," was his reply, careful not to look at her. Emerald raised an eyebrow, and then crawled around the bed so they were looking face-to-face.

"Are ya sure? You seem like a little distant," she observed and sat down beside him.

Takiji adverted his eyes from her gaze and tried his best to hold back his true emotions.

"I'm fine, really."

"No you're not," Emerald corrected.

"And why do you say that?"

"For one, you're not looking at me, and two: I can tell when you're lying…"

"I said I was fine, alright?" he rudely responded.

Emerald was taken aback at his tone of voice and gave a hurt look. 

"S_orry_ for caring…"

Her tail gave an annoyed flick as she got off his bed and lay down on her own. Takiji gave exhaled deeply. He should just ask her now.

"Emerald?"

"What?"

 "Sorry, I'm just a little tense."

"It's alright, I'm not pissed off or anything…"

"And, Emerald?"

"Hm?"

"Will you go with me to S.M.P. tomorrow?"

Emerald sat up and blinked.

"You mean you can actually _leave_ out of here?"

"Uh, _yeah_…and we get two whole days off. A lot of the boys are going to try to go to S.M.P. Want to come?"

"Sure," she exclaimed, "But it might be hard, it's hard to get into that city. Bianca-sama keeps that place locked tight and only allows so many people."

"Well, let's hope she's gracious tomorrow. So, you really want to go with me?"

Emerald smiled sweetly.

"Of course! Why wouldn't I?"

"I don't know," Takiji blushed, "Goodnight, Emie."

He laid back into his bed shut his eyes.

"'Night, Taki-san," Emerald yawned and laid down, falling asleep as soon as she hit the pillow.

When everything got quiet and the sound of slumber could be heard from Emerald's bed, Takiji moved around so he was facing he was facing his friend. He just lay there, watching her sleep soundly. After a while he felt his eyelids get heavy and he smiled sleepily.

_'I do love Emie…huh…well what do you know…'_ was the last thing he thought before he nodded off.

~*~*~*~

Boah walked down a stoned path with his hands behind his back. He stopped once in a while to smell a flower or to look at a stray animal or two. 

(A/N: Well, that was chapter 11! I know it was short! The next chapter is all about the people and places in Furenchi Kisu and SMP! Oh yeah! R&R! I'd like to know if it's good or not!)


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